Re Run
by Have Socks. Will Travel
Summary: The tramatic event that ended his life as he knew it has fallen at his feet. Literally. Will he pick it up and run with it, or will he get cold feet, afraid of what will happen when he faces Tohru Honda and his past all over again.
1. Re Introduction

**Aloha! I am back! And my spell checker doesn't like to work, so there are probably going to be millions of little mistakes and quite a few zillion big ones. But we will have to deal, now won't we! Oh wait! It just turned on! We are in good hands now, my friends! Good hands. I repeat, good hands.**

**Okay. Down to business! For those who have not read the story **_**Kyo's New Obsession**_**, this is a continuation on that story! But never fear! I will briefly summarize what happens in that story in this extra long authors note.**

**But before I get to that, I have to warn the people that **_**have **_**read **_**Kyo's New Obsession. **_**Skip these author's notes. Unless you forgot everything. Then you can read it.**

**I do recommend reading **_**Kyo's New Obsession **_**first. (Though I will warn you. The first couple chapters suck and have no real relevance to the main plot. I was kind of going off at a different angle and then I ran out of ideas…) This story will ruin the ending of it. But, to each his own! I will now review. Do not read if you are counting on reading **_**Kyo's New Obsession.**_

**Plot ending of KNO (**_**Kyo's New Obsession): **_**Tohru, through various circumstances, has had her memories cleared of all of the Sohmas. The entire zodiac, the student council, Shishou, Kunimitsu, Hana, Uo, and all of my OCs (Tsujiai, Rei, Sana, Kaji, whom I will get to later,) were gathered together and the curse was revealed and BROKEN. But then things go wrong. Tohru thought Kyo died (looooong story, Read to find out,) and she went crazy. Even when she is told that Kyo is alive, she doesn't believe. When he (Kyo) is brought before her, alive and kicking, she has weird fits. This is when they decided that they should erase her memories. Hatori was given charge of erasing the memory **_**everyone, **_**who wasn't part of the zodiac and Shishou. This, my friends, is how it happened. This was taking place at a clearing at Kaji's summer house just after graduation. So if they mention a clearing, it is most likely **_**that **_**clearing.**

**The story is picking up from just about where I left off. Kyo is in college at TU (Tokyo University) and he lives in an apartment all by his lonesome. He was walking back from the store after going shopping and he runs into Tohru. Actually, Tohru trips over his legs, but that is beside the point. Yuki is married to Machi (I will explain how this possible in the story…) and they have a two year old little girl. Yes, I am changing that. She was originally one, but for my purposes, she needs to be two. Or else her talking wouldn't make sense. **

**Anyway. Let me describe my OCs one at a time. I won't be using them quiet as much as I did in the other story, but I will mention them so you'll need to know who they are. They are basically just friends of Kyo's. I, being a Kyo supporter, wanted Kyo to have some friends and it turned out that I used them a lot more than I planned to… I'll start with my favorite and then do all the others later.**

**Tsujiai Hibiki: He plays soccer with Manabe (the vice president) and is good friends with him. He is easy going, and very dramatic. He, like Rei, likes to tease Kyo constantly. He is now attending a school in Korea, with a scholarship to play soccer there.**

**Okay! Now that I have that out of my hair I can start! I think this is the biggest A/N I have ever written. And believe you me: I write LOOONG A/Ns.**

**Oo0oO**

Kyo paced up and down the carpet of his tiny apartment. It was as if wearing a gouge in the off white carpet would help him think. But it wasn't. He kept pacing anyway. Kazuki and Az, his orange and brown cats, spun around his ankles, feeling his distress. Though he no longer transformed or wore the beaded bracelet, it seemed that his connection to cats, however annoying it was, had remained. The purred, trying to sooth his frazzled nerves, but it was to no avail. Nothing could help him

He was trying to make sense of what had just happened. On minute he had been asleep on the park bench and the next, he was looking into the eyes if a girl he hadn't seen in three years. He had been on his way home from the store after a binge shopping trip and had taken a detour through the park to escape the homework that he wasn't looking forward to. The next thing he knew, Tohru had plopped down on his toes. Literally.

But it wasn't the fact that he had seen Tohru that sent his head spinning. He was still trying to get his head around that one. But it was what she had said when she had seen him. And what had happened.

"Should I go?" Kyo thought as he began the long march across his living room once again. "I have no idea what to do."

He passed in front of the TV, brushing his fingers across the screen. The gentle touch left finger tracks in the dust. He hadn't had time for watching TV, so it had remained unused.

Kyo scrunched his eyebrows together and halted his march. His cats, which had been following him, stopped as well. They sat back on their haunches and stared up at him with glassy eyes.

"Meow?" They asked. Kyo had nicknamed them his "Old men" cats. They made him feel like an old lady, cooped up with nothing but cats for company. But since he wasn't an old lady, he had changed it to "old man."

Kyo brushed his fingers through is longish orange hair then rubbed his hand down his face. He realized that he still had on the sunglasses that Mii and Ritsu had sent from Italy. They were on their honeymoon there and seemed to be enjoying themselves. Kyo took them off and slipped them into his pants pocket. He walked over to his favorite arm chair and sat down in it. It helped him think.

He thought back over what had happened.

_Flashback__"T-Tohru?" Kyo stuttered._

He didn't know how long he had been asleep for. Perhaps it was a few minutes or maybe longer, but it was long enough for the frozen contents of his bags to get the other items a bit wet. He jolted awake when her felt pressure on his extended feet and heard a large crash. He looked down to see a young girl sprawled out on the ground. It seemed that she had tripped over his bags of groceries. She got to her knees, bowing as she did so and started picking up the things of Kyo's bag that had spilt out after her tumble. She seemed reluctant to let Kyo see her face, she was so ashamed. Her puffy bangs did a good job of hiding her.

Kyo leaned down from his position on the bench to help her out, silently. He noticed a large, platinum engagement ring on her finger. It was a nice ring, he had to admit. He was still slightly sleepy, so he was quiet throughout his work. It was only when the girl rose that he saw something familiar. Tying her straight brown hair up was a ribbon that Yuki had given Tohru.

The girl snapped to attention when she heard her name. She seemed to not have seen Kyo before, judging by her reaction to his orange hair.

A sudden soft expression crossed her face.

"K-Kyo!!"

_Kyo blinked and then slapped his forehead. This was not supposed to be happening. He was supposed to stay out of her life._

"_Crud." He thought to himself. "Crud, crud, crud, crud, cru"—_

RING!! RING!!

The phone brought him back to his senses and he jumped. He hadn't expected the phone to ring. It rang a few more times before Kyo stood up and answered it. When he did he answered with the usual.

"Hello?" Kyo said into the mouth piece.

"Oh! Hello Kyo! I didn't expect you to pick up. An's been making me call every ten minutes. She is so excited."

It was Machi. Her voice was calm and soothing; just the thing that Kyo needed at the time. Kyo could hear frenzied footsteps in the back ground. Those, he could guess, belonged to An, their only daughter.

"Oh, hold on Kyo." Machi huffed and then there was the sound of her hand covering the mouthpiece. Kyo heard muffled conversation through her hand blocking off the conversation. An's squeaky, high voice cut through while Machi's soothing voice calmed her down. It was a full minute before Machi got back on the phone.

"An wants to talk to you. I hope you don't mind." Machi seemed tired, but what could you expect from someone with a daughter like An?

"No!" Kyo insisted, surprised. "I like to talk to her!"

"Okay! Okay!" Kyo could tell that the words were not directed toward him, but to the impatient little girl on the other end.

There was the muffled scratching of the phone changing hands and then An's labored breathing took control of the phone.

"I'm almost two!" Was her greeting to Kyo.

"That's pretty cool!" Kyo nodded. That was actually very cool.

"Are you coming?"

"Coming?"

"My party!"

"Your party?"

"My party!" An was nearly hysterical. "We going to dinner for my party. I only want you to come! Pwease?"

Kyo thought for a second and then it all came back to him. Before he had gone shopping, his empty stomach and empty fridge nearly driving him to the edge, he had listened to his messages. On them, Machi had called and said something about dinner. This must have been what she was talking about. Now that he looked back on it, he couldn't believe that he hadn't guessed. An had been talking about nothing else but her birthday for the last three months. Even when Machi calmly explained that she still had a ways to go before she was actually two, An still stuttered away in her beginning talking. Kyo was pretty sure that An's first word had been Birthday, if not "kitty."

"I'll have to talk to your mom about it." He answered. "What do you want for your birthday?

But An had not heard the last bit. There was a rustle, a creaking noise and then a "Talk to mommy now," and suddenly Machi was back online. She sounded nearly as surprised as Kyo felt to suddenly be back on the phone.

"An wants we to talk to you about 'it'?" Machi asked; the question was apparent in her voice.

"I told her that I would have to talk to you about her birthday party." Kyo explained. He lounged back in his chair as he leaned over the arm to pull the lever that would release the foot rest. With a grunt, the extension popped out and Kyo was placed into what would be considered the more comfortable, laying down position.

"Oh." Came Machi's nonchalant reply.

"I still can't get over how good she's talking! Are one year olds—excuse me, _two _year olds—supposed to be talking that well yet? Kyo exclaimed.

"Nope!" Machi cheered. "Thank goodness that she got her father's brains."

"She's gonna be a genius child." Kyo muttered.

"Like her father."

Kyo muttered something under his breath and Machi asked what he was saying. Kyo answered with a quick "NOTHING! NOTHING AT ALL!! NOPE!"

"So," Machi asked, changing the subject with an almost business like quality. "Can you come?"

"To the party?" Kyo asked, making sure they were on the same topic.

"Yes. To the party."

"I guess. I have nothing else to do and I haven't seen An in a while."

"We all know. An's been pestering us about it. I asked her who she wanted to invite and all she said was you. I even asked about other friends and she held out that she only wanted you. She even planned, with my help of course, the dinner because she doesn't want you to be bored."

"I'm never bored when I'm around her! She always keeps me entertained!" Kyo insisted.

"I told her that, but she was worried that if you ever got bored you wouldn't ever come see her again. She knows that her daddy likes Dinner parties, so she thought it would be a good thing for you too."

"Well you should tell her that I am a lot different than her old man." Kyo muttered into the mouthpiece.

"What?" Machi asked. "I couldn't hear you."

"Tell her I'll be there!" Kyo declared, falsely bright.

"Sounds good!" Machi seemed preoccupied by something. Probably An. "And I'll tell you: all she's been talking about are those cats of hers. She even carries around a cat stuffed animal. I think it was that one that you gave her."

"I catch your drift!" Kyo laughed. "Tell An I'm look forward to seeing her!"

"Will do." Machi laughed as well and then hung up.

"Well," Kyo said into the empty space that was his house. "Now I have something to do."

Immediately after her slapped his forehead. The first sign of madness was talking to yourself. The second was owning an unhealthy number of cats.

**Oo0oO**

**Okay!! I hope no one hates! This is going in completely un-edited, besides my amazing spell checker (yes, I am being a kiss-up! PLEASE WORK FOR ME FROM NOW ON!! PLEASE!! :begs on bended knee: ) **

**I hope you don't mind the amazing number of OCs! Most of them won't even show up…**

**And also, a bit of trivia for my veteran readers: the cat that Kyo gave An is the same cat that he got on graduation! From the one stalker girl! Do you remember her?**

**Anyways… You'll have to deal with me and my anti-Furuba mood. I have been writing prince of tennis for far too long and it is about time I change my mood.**

**And now that you have me and my (amazing) story, I will be leaving you. Forever. I am going on a cruise around the world until I am thirty. Yeah, I wish. I am actually just going on vacation (correction: One week of misery; two weeks of fun) and I won't be back for three weeks. I totaled that up for you just in case you are like me and don't do the math. One (week of torture) plus two (weeks of fun) equals va-va-voom!**

**Review! **

**PS: can you tell me if my summary makes sense _at all!! _Thankie thankie!**


	2. Dinner with An

Okay

**Okay! I am back and read to rumble. Hold on… daisy has something. **

**Never mind. It's the fluffy book that she's not supposed to have. But I am in no mood to get it from her. I am actually in no mood to do anything.**

**I don't actually know what I am doing this for… Right now I am supposed to be packing for my trip. I'm sure by the time you read this I'll be back, but right now I am supposed to be packing. Only I just unpacked, so I am in no mood to repack. Such is my life.**

**Anyway, here is the next OC:**

**Rei Kuno: She is very short and has short, jet black hair that is always in her eyes. She likes to tease Kyo and was one of his best friends in school. Her father owns the grocery store and local gas station that the Sohma's always shop at. Rei is now taking care of the store and taking classes at the community college.**

**Oo0oO**

Kyo threw his briefcase over his shoulder after piling his mountain load of homework into it. He wasn't exactly sure why he had gotten the homework or if he would have time to finish it, but he would try.

He nodded at his instructor, a large beefy man with a large mustache and beard and a bald head, as he walked out the door. That day's lesson had been a review for a test that they were going to take. As Kyo thought back on it, he seemed to be reliving his High School life, although there was much more homework.

Kyo, who had wanted the chance to talk to his instructor, stopped before he reached the door, where the man was standing. The man looked confused for a minute, as if he was wondering why this boy was standing in front of him, but then he smiled a reassuring smile. Although Kyo wasn't sure who he was reassuring. It seemed that his instructor, an ex-cop had taken one too many blows to the head in his glory days and was left bumbling and smiling. That, Kyo thought, was probably the reason he was given the job of instructor.

"Um, Sensei?" Kyo asked. "There's something I want to talk to you about."

"Oh?" The teacher answered and Kyo could almost see the question marks coming off of his head like in all the manga that he had read. "Why don't you take a seat and ask me while I grade these papers."

"Okay."

Kyo grabbed a chair out from under the desk nearest to him and swing his leg over it, sitting on it backwards, his hands holding on to the back of the chair. The shorter man scooted in beneath is desk and, with out delay, began grading the stacks of paper that littered his desk. There were a fair few and Kyo was glad that he had not picked the teacher route of life. Although, he supposed, neither had the man that had become his teacher.

He thought for a minute, collecting his thoughts. He kept his eye on the analog clock watching the seconds tick away knowing that he was wasting his homework-doing-time asking his teacher for advice. This was something he wouldn't have done when he was younger. And in fact it had surprised him a bit when the initial thought crept into his mind. The younger Kyo would have just barged into anything, more like Shigure than he wanted to admit. But now, a more experienced and scared Kyo, he took things more cautiously.

"Um, Sensei?" He began slowly. He didn't know why he was being so slow to ask. It wasn't all that big of a deal. He was just _not _used to asking people for advice.

"Hum?" The teacher replied absentmindedly, stapling two sheets of paper together with precision that only a teacher possessed, and perhaps secretaries.

"Well… I would like some advice. See, a department contacted me and asked me I would like to volunteer with them for a while."

"What 'department' would this be?" Staple, stack, scribble, repeat.

"Um, the local police force." Kyo wrinkled his nose, trying to hold back a sneeze.

"Well…" Staple, stack, scribble, repeat. "Since you are training to be a _police officer, _I think that it would be a good opportunity for you. Why would you have to ask me?"

"Well. I made some pretty rash decisions when I was younger… I thought they would be good for me, but… They turned out to be the only thing that could hurt me."

Tohru's face flashed on his eyelids. He squeezed his eyes closed, trying to get her face out of his mind. This made his valiant attempt to hold in his sneeze moot point. He sneezed.

"Whoa. Excuse me. Anyway, I don't want to barge right into this. I thought I would get your advice. I respect you and I think you would know what's best for me."

The instructor looked up from his papers and smiled a wrinkled smile his way. "Why thank you Sohma-kun. I'm glad that you think that way. But remember. You're growing up. You can't hold onto the idea that respected adults will always give you the advice that you need. Someday you'll have to take the place of those to become a respected adult yourself.'

"Yes." Kyo nodded and blushed slightly. He was sure that he would never become what was socially accepted as "respectable."

Kyo stood up and pushed the chair back into place. He bowed, left the room and headed home, reading pages from his textbook like the assignment said. Better to multitask.

**Oo0oO**

Kyo's decision to become a cop happened after Shishou wouldn't give up the dojo. Shishou still had a bit of an attachment to the place and to his students and had been unwilling to give up the dojo to Kyo's able hands. So he sent Kyo to college on the pretense of him "getting out and seeing the world" which was now possible because of the lifting of the curse.

Kyo with his love of fighting and over developed justice meter had immediately latched onto the idea of being a police officer. It was the ideal job for one such as he and he loved it more and more as he went along. His instructor had praised him openly to the full attention of the class. He was especially fond of undercover work, having played spy games by himself as a child and later on with Kagura.

And now that a police force would take him in, all on a volunteer basis of course, was an extra pride booster. He had been recognized his teacher and now by his community as an asset to them. Someone had recommended him to the police force, he knew and he had an idea of who it could have been: sensei. Kyo was pleased with the chance and wanted to thank him, but sensei was a private man and seemed uncomfortable in most situations. It was a wonder that such a family-man became such a hardened cop.

Kyo walked in the door, his reading assignment finished, and stumbled on Az, who had the bad habit of napping right in front of the door. If the door would move, she would merely scoot over a few inches and plop right down again.

Kyo cursed under his breath and used his foot to scoot Az out of the way. She looked up at him, a very put out look in her wide yellow eyes. She stood up, stretched and sauntered off, dignified as ever, leaving Kyo feeling rather stupid, although he wasn't sure why.

"Birthday present, check." Kyo muttered.

**Oo0oO**

Kyo walked up the long walk to the double door of a rather nice diner. He spoke to the host at the reservation table, who eyed his in-need-of-a-hair-cut hair in a skeptical manner. The stuffy man led him to the table that Yuki and his small family were gathered around.

When An saw Kyo, she let out a squeal to challenge all other squeals, including some of her own. She unbuckled herself from her high chair, which was a bit too small for her, and she scurried over to him, throwing her hands out wide.

"Kwo!" She called, mispronouncing his name like she usually did.

He gathered her up in a hug grabbing her as she dashed up to him.

"How is my little An?" He asked, smiling a true smile down at her tiny face.

"Present!" An called.

"You're here?" Kyo asked, confused. He was astounded that An knew a word like that. She was only _two _after all. Most kids were stuck with "Kitty" and "Mommy."

"Present!!" An began searching Kyo, and suddenly it clicked.

"Oh!" Kyo laughed at his stupidity. "Your present is at my house. I couldn't take it with me. They don't allow _cats _in the restaurant."

An's eyes ogled and then she giggled and clapped her hands together. She squirmed out of his arms and hurried over to her mom and dad and announced very proudly.

"An get kitty!"

And with that she promptly lifted up her arms, signifying that she wanted back up in her booster seat. Machi did so rapidly, as to avoid any An-breakaways.

The group of four sat snugly in a corner booth, away from the hustle and bustle of the regular crowd. Kyo sat beside An and played airplane with her food when it arrived. As they ate they talked about how their lives were going. Yuki seemed to be doing well in school, what with the added hardship of being the head of the Sohma family. Machi was enjoying school and, surprisingly, keeping house. An was pleased with everything.

An was also itching to get her present. When ever there was a silence during which people were stopping to eat she would bang her fork on the tray of her high chair and announce.

"An's Kitty!"

Which would cause Machi to hush her and a whole new conversation would flare up.

But sooner, rather than later, the adults were done (much of An's dinner was on the floor) and they set off.

Not wanting to be there to see the betrayed look on Az's face when she was taken away by An and Machi, Kyo handed over his keys to Machi, directing her as to which cat to take.

"Just leave my keys in the house. No one will break in. I have a high level watch cat on duty!"

An giggled and Machi smiled. The three of them, Yuki, Machi, and An, turned to leave, when Kyo called out.

"Ah! Yuki! Do you think I could talk to you for a minute? I have… well, something came up and I think you should know.'

"Oh!" Yuki's eyebrows furrowed. "Sure."

He waved Machi and An onwards and he started walking with Kyo.

"Well?" he asked when they were a good while away from the diner. "What is it?"

**Oo0oO**

**And it is finished. This is probably the shortest chapter ever. It seems like the quality of these chapters are going down hill verrrrry fast. But I am in a hurry. **

**I wanted to get this out before I went crazy. I don't like it very much and I may come back and fix it later.**

**Anyway, review. (Downcast eyes… sniff)**


	3. Boy's Night Out

**A/N: I am losing my Furuba Fighting spirit.**

**I am also surprised that I haven't ranted to you all about the Wimbledon. OH. MY. GOSH! DANG IT!! Yarg yarg yarg yarg YARG!! Pppppppppppppptttttttttttpppppppppppppppppppttttttttttthhhhhhhhhhhhpppppppppplaksdjfp;lkasjdflkasdj;flksdfalsdkfajs;dlfkjasdfpooooooooooooooooooooooopppppppppppppppppyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy! Munch munch munch. Asdjjklajklasfjklasfjkl;afklasjkl;dfjkl;asjkldfjkl;asd f**

**I hate Nadal. He won. I hate Federer. He lost.**

**Nuff said.**

**Oo0oO**

**(This is gonna be a shortie…)**

**Oo0oO**

Hot.

That was all that Kyo felt as he strolled lazily down the busy road with Yuki. With his hands buried deep down in his pants pockets and his black long john waffle-weave shirt rolled up to his elbows, it was all he could do not to scream out. He kept his cool figuratively speaking and continued to amble down the road.

The streetlights and the cars passing by lit the way to a small ice cream booth. Dodging around pedestrians and a large man walking his fluffy dog, the pair made their way into the building. A ping of familiarity hit Kyo as he recognized the trifling of a shop as the one that he and Sana had gone to on their way to pick her new cat. It had undergone some remodeling. The faded, past their prime booths had been replaced with modern, plastic covered chairs and round tables. The floor had been painted so that Kyo thought that they clashed with the walls.

The only thing that remained of the same shop that he and Sana had come into on their way through their mini adventure was the coolers. Ancient and long-standing, they reliably kept the ice cream cold. The windows were spotted with fingerprints and a fine coat of ice cream splattering.

There was a bit of a line before they were up to order, so Yuki, who was still waiting for Kyo to explain what it was that he wanted to talk to him about, just stood there. Kyo glanced around, taking in all the new-ness. The line moved fast so it wasn't long before Kyo was up, ordering his strawberry-on-a-cone-but-also-in-a-bowl and Yuki his Chocolate mousse with chopped nuts. They took their ice cream to a table and ate it in silence. That was just the way it was with them. They got together to do things, but they did it without taking. A lifetime of hating made the best team sometimes.

The two walked back out the door after tossing their trash into the upright, openmouthed trashcans next to the door. Yuki spoke for the first time in a while.

"If An is getting a cat, it'll need some toys. I don't want it playing with the curtains.

Kyo bit back a sharp word, knowing that he would need Yuki on his good side. Having the head of your family for one of your friends was both a blessing and a curse. You could get away with more, but if he didn't like it, he was more curt with you than really needed. After all, he could get away with things that friendship allowed as well.

"Great idea." Kyo nodded, but laughed inside about how girly Yuki was being. Kyo didn't even have curtains in his house. Though Kyo knew that it was Machi who had decorated the house, Yuki was the one who actually cared.

"So what was this thing that you wanted to talk to me about?"

They had arrived at the large PetSmart that was just down the road from the shop. Again, a pain shot through Kyo as he recognized this as the same place that he and Sana had gone to look for her cat. They hadn't found one here so, dejectedly she left with him. She had insisted on them stopping at the local grocery store so that she could get a large tub of ice cream for comfort food.

It was with a sudden feeling of regret that Kyo realized that the cat he was giving away was the same on that Sana had owned for such a short time.

"Well…" Kyo began, trying to find the best words to answer Yuki's question.

"Yes?" Yuki asked as he flipped over a toy to read the pluses of the toy printed in tiny black letters on the cardboard flap that the toy was attached to.

"I don't know how to put this, so I'll just say it how it is."

"You're just stalling now."

"Yeah."

"Just tell me."

"I don't know how."

"It can't be that bad."

Kyo rocked his head back and forth. "Debatable."

"Just cut to the point. I have work tomorrow."

Kyo took another deep cleansing breath. Yuki really was the best person to talk to about this. He decided it was best to start from the beginning.

"Well, I was walking home with some groceries because my kitchen was bare."

"Go on."

"I decided to stop and rest. It had been a hard day and we had run a bunch of obstacle courses. The groceries were cutting into my arms and I was a little ways from home. I had taken the long way home."

"Great." Yuki was bored.

"I ran into someone I shouldn't have." Kyo suddenly blurted out.

"It doesn't matter anymore. We aren't cursed anymore. Running into someone doesn't matter anymore. You of all people should know this. Are you sure you weren't"—

"Yuki, I ran into Tohru." Kyo cut in.

There was a moment of stunned silence as Yuki took in the enormity of what Kyo had just dumped on him.

"Oh. Well, how's she doing?" Kyo could tell that Yuki was as shocked as he had been.

"She's fine. She's going to get married. Yuki, what are we going to do."

"_We _aren't going to do anything." Yuki began. "It's you that has to do something. And that something will be to do nothing. It was a chance meeting, nothing more. As long as she hasn't remembered you or anything about us, then we should just leave her be. And don't you go running into all of this and causing problems. If we just leave her alone, she'll be fine."

And with that, the silver haired man turned on his heel and walked over to the check-out. A small mouse toy dangled from his hand and the bell attached to it flashed in the dim store lights.

"That's not all that happened." Kyo whispered to Yuki's retreating back.

**Oo0oO**

Kyo let himself into his apartment, a thundering headache pounding away at his head. He dropped his ring of keys on the small coffee table next to the door and he removed his belt and threw it over the back of his favorite lazy-boy recliner. Misa, his next-door neighbor had a posse of girls over for a sleepover and they were playing their music rather loud. Kyo was surprised that her parents didn't do something about it.

Out of habit he glanced at his phone and saw that the tiny red light was flashing. He had messages.

He tapped the button that started the message replay and threw himself onto his couch. He curled up into a ball and hugged a pillow to his head.

There was something methodical and soothing about listening messages. In Kyo's mind, it was the closest thing to time travel that you could ever get. He knew that they were just recorded voices, but he also thought of them as voices from the past. The button beeped and his messages began.

"_Hi Kyo-kun. This is your next-door neighbor, Misa's parents. We'd just like to let you know that Misa will be having a bunch of girls over and she would like to apologize in advance for all the noise that they'll be making. Additionally, Misa was wondering if you two could get together some time and talk about college. She's graduating from High School this year and she would like to talk to you about what _college _entails. Just knock on our door if you need anything! Thanks, bye!"_

BEEP! Kyo nodded into his pillow. Misa was nice enough. She wouldn't be bad to talk to. Certainly she would be better company than Yuki.

"_Kwo! Thanks for Kitty! I Wuve him. Her. Bye"_

BEEP! Kyo smiled. An was just too cute.

"_Hi Kyo-san. This is Tohru. I don't know if you remember, but I talked to you in the park."_

Kyo shot upright. He had given Tohru his number, but he didn't think that she would actually call him. From her eyes it must have just looked like a friendly exchange of phone numbers between old classmates. No one ever _really _called back.

"_Um, if you remember what we talked about, I was wondering if we could confirm. I know you probably think this is weird that I would call back, but it would be great to see you again. I remember you from school and I thought it would be fun to get together and talk. So if you would, could you call me back? You can use the phone number I gave you. Sorry about your groceries. Okay, bye."_

There was a click as the phone hung up and Kyo's message box went into the clean up mode, asking him if he would like to delete the message. Kyo was too stunned to move.

While he wanted to see her, to hear her giggle and talk, he knew that he shouldn't. It had nearly killed him when she had… she had been taken away from him. He didn't think he could stand it a second time.

But still, he found himself reaching for the phone. He found his fingers dancing over the keypad, tapping in the number that he had memorized on sight.

The first dial tone rang and he quickly hung up the phone.

What was he doing?

**Oo0oO**

**So ends my chapter. Bwa ha ha.**

**I am going to the beach tomorrow! I am so excited! Mind you, I'll come home with the worst sunburn ever, but I'm gonna have so much fun.**

**I have realized the worst thing. I haven't had FOJ for nearly six months. This is a crime. I can actually feel my body going through withdrawal (laugh.) For those of you who do not know, FOJ is F**rozen **O**range** J**uice**. It is like my illegal drug. When ever my family buys FOJ they have to buy double the amount. One for me and one for them. They make it into Un-FOJ and I eat it. Plain. Out. Of. The. Can. Delish!!**

**Review. Pwease. **


	4. Cheese Grater of Death

**Sooooo. I am stuck going to a BORING campy thingy this weekend. I went last year and I came home sick, so that might add to my aversion to "Youth Conference." But this year (like last year) my parents are putting a foot in and are making me go. I would tell you more about it, but I wouldn't want you to have nightmares like I do. Speaking of nightmares, I had one last night where I was working as stage crew in play and there were two girls always sitting at a lunch table. I recognized the first girl, her name was Michelle. But then the other girl turns around and it is Michelle again! But I know that Michelle has no twin. I have no idea why this was a nightmare, but I woke up in a coldish sweat…**

**Anyway, I will be gone (forever!! It seems…) this weekend, which is why I am updating today… I shudder at the thought of the state of my inbox when I will come back… (-Subtle hint at reviewing…-)**

**FYI, the beginning of this chapter is kinda serious, but the rest is not at allllllll.**

**Oo0oO**

Then next day was one of the worst that Kyo had had in his sad, miserable life. He couldn't get Tohru off his mind. And as Karma, the cruel mistress, would have it, neither would the world. Everywhere he went, at every step he took, the world would throw reminders of the klutzy brown haired girl at him.

He hadn't thought of her, much, for the last three years. During the first while, the pain had stung him sharp and strong. Whenever his thoughts drifted to the kind girl he had known, he felt his insides burn and scrape, pulling him down into a pit he never had hope of escaping. Her chocolate hair and goofy grin haunted him day and night, when he thought of how things could have been and when he woke to the harsh cruelty of the real world. During that first period of time, his heart had cried out every time he heard a giggle or saw a flash of brown hair. It was as bad as loosing Kaji, Rei, Tsujiai, and Sana all over. But the pain of loosing them was miniscule compared to the pain he felt at loosing Tohru. As much as he was attached to them, the emotional scars that he bore from their loss were small. Tohru's was gargantuan. It was as if he lost the four of them all at once, the moment that Tohru fell back, her memories of them gone. Kyo thought h could never come back from the path his life had taken.

But like how scars fade over time, slowly but surely Tohru had drifted from his mind. It wasn't as if she and his feeling for her had gone. No. As time passed, the hurt just lessened, until it was just a bite, then a ping, and now a dull ache in the back of his heart and mind. It wasn't as if he meant to forget her. He wanted to keep her memory as alive as was physically possible. But things, as they have a habit of doing, happened and bit by bit the pain and suffering he had felt at her loss were replaced by new worries, obligations, and goals. When ever he would think of her now, it was with a resigned sigh and head shake. He had let go of the past. It was over now, he knew that. Her last pledge, just before she had turned to have her memories adjusted, troubled him. And the knowledge that he was the reason of her demise of sorts from their lives weighed on his mind as well. But he had put it all behind him, knowing that it was futile to worry himself. _She _wouldn't like it. When ever they were down on their luck she would always worry herself sick, a majority of the time literally.

And with this mindset, Kyo had stepped off the twisted path that his life had become and went into the great unknown. He had to admit, this giant leap of faith on his part had helped in the distraction and easing of the pain he had felt when Tohru had left. Over time, all that remained was his love and the dull twinge in his chest.

But with this one call, this one meeting, Kyo's resigned and calm life was thrown into a frenzied chaos.

"My life is crap."

Kyo lay sprawled across his queen sized bed, tangled in his sheets after a long night of terrible dreams.

In the dream, Kagura would not leave him alone. Kyo kept telling her that she was getting married to Kunimitsu in a few weeks and that he had a test one how to build a motorcycle to study for. But still she would not leave him alone. So Kyo, a cheese grater suddenly appearing in his clammy hand, began grating cheese for all he was worth. But the cheese that fell in tiny curls would never fall into the bowl.

Suddenly the cheese wedge began talking to him.

"Ow. That fork hurts."

Kyo was about to point out that the instrument he was using was in fact _not _a fork, but was actually a cheese grater, when he realized that he recognized the voice talking to him. It was Tohru's voice.

"Tohru! How are the penguins?"

"Terrible."

He kneeled down on the floor, holding the hunk of cheese between his two hands as if it were an extremely delicate and fragile antique.

"Why?"

"The Jelly Beans! They overran my fridge and I accidentally stepped on one!"

In his dream, Kyo remembered being horrified.

In the morning, Kyo felt stupid, both for caring about jelly beans and for talking to a block of cheese. He could understand his concern for the penguins, although it could have just been side effects of his half drowsy state.

It was Sunday and he had the day off from school. Kyo glanced at his clock. It was 9:30, much too early to be waking after the long night last night. Misa and her friends hadn't shut up all night. So Kyo was wondering why he was up so early. Then it struck him.

_Ring! Ring! _The telephone belched out.

Kyo murmured under his breath as he untangled himself from his sheets and threw them off. He tumbled down the hall, past his laundry pile, which was over flowing, the washer making an odd clanking sound and piled into the living form. Leaning over his second armchair, he grabbed the phone off his kitchen counter.

"Hello?" He asked, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

"Melon Kyo-kun," belted out the cheery, spunky voice. Kyo was immediately reminded of Shigure, who answered every phone call that way.

"Um?" Kyo asked.

"This is Misa. You know from down the call. Your next-door-neighbor."

"Oh."

"My mom called you last night?" The statement was a question.

"Yeah, I got the message."

"Sorry! I know my friends were totally obnoxious."

"Yeah…" Kyo intoned. He rubbed a lock of bright orange hair out of his face and heaved himself out of the armchair that he had flung himself into. He meandered into the kitchen. The only thing that distinguished the front room from the kitchen was the change from tile in the kitchen to the carpet in the front room. No wall, no break. Jut a thing strip of metal to keep the edges down.

Kyo rooted around in the fridge as Misa went on.

"I suppose she, my mom I mean, told you about my request."

"You wanted to talk to me about college."

"I still do! Oh, that would be wonderful if you could. You're going to be in the police force and that's just want I want to do! Dad says that all his bodyguards have rubbed off on me!"

Misa laughed. Kyo smiled a bit and continued his search for milk behind a tall pitcher of kool-aid.

Misa's father was a high ranking government official. He was a portly man with a belly as big as his sense of humor. He was grey and balding everywhere but in the mustache that he kept groomed in a grandfatherly fashion. He was a charming man, is wit only matched by that of his wife. Most of his children were grown and Misa was the only thing keeping him and his wife from being empty nesters. Kyo couldn't have asked for better neighbors, although he could have done without all of Misa's rowdy friends.

"So," Misa continued. "I was thinking and I just want to get this planned out. This is for a school project. My _final _school project." She groaned.

"I'm glad I didn't have one of those…" Kyo answered only because there was a pause. He had located the milk and now it was just a matter of extracting it from its chilly prison.

"You're lucky. This project is the biggest pain in the butt ever. But anyway, I just have to ask. Would to day be okay for me to talk to you?"

Kyo thought about his dream then looked down at himself. While Misa's friends _had _been loud, He was usually and early riser. Having retained the cat's finicky habits, he would usually be up and showered by this time. But there he was, slobby in his sleepwear at 9:30, even if it was a Sunday.

"I'm having a bit of an off day…" His voice petered out. "How about if I call you tomorrow after I get home?"

"'Kay!" Misa's cheery voice rang out. "Sounds good to me! Thanks!"

"Sure. If you need anything, just call."

"I sure will! Thanks again Kyo-kun. You're a life saver! Bye!"

"Yup."

The phone clicked off.

It was then that Karma and destiny hit him. Hard.

Lifting the milk carton to his lips, Kyo prepared to take a swig when a copious amount of the white liquid leaked out of the side. It dribbled down his chin and onto his shirt, drenching it.

"Ah!" came Kyo's outburst.

He jumped back, reflex kicking in. He plunked the milk carton down and grabbed a rag that Kagura had gotten him to decorate the kitchen with. He dabbed at the growing dark spot. The shirt, however, was beyond repair. Kyo noticed some other gigantic spots that were rather eye catching. They stood out like a beacon on his white tee.

Calling it a lost cause, Kyo ripped the shirt off and huffed down the hall, past his laundry, into his room, past his bed and into a large walk in closet that like everything in his house, doubled as something else. He glanced around it. Besides a few pairs of pants and a blow-up bed, his closet was painfully devoid of any clean shirts. Heaving an agitated sigh, Kyo turned on his heel and pranced into the hallway that doubled as his laundry room. He rooted through shirt after shirt, searching for an acceptable shirt to wear. But he seemed to have developed a curse of dribbling food on his shirts and taking it home for later. Every shirt seemed to have a stain of _some kind _on it.

The most acceptable shirt turned out to be his least favorite one. It was tight and too small for him. Why he still had it and why he had even bought it in the first place was a mystery to him, but he was thankful none the less.

It was at times like these that he wished that Tohru was still here. She wouldn't have let the house fall into such decay on her watch.

Kyo clapped a hand to his forehead. Tohru was the last thing he needed to think about right now. How she always came to mind was beginning to annoy. Especially if she was a block of cheese.

Surveying the pile of laundry that awaited him, Kyo felt a deeps sense of dread and impending doom. As if on cue the washer made a sound that even Kyo, who knew nothing when it came to technology, knew that the washer would wash no more.

Kyo closed his eyes and let out a single, strangled grunt of disbelief.

Kazuki, who hadn't seemed to notice his sister's recent departure, hopped up on the washer as if to say "Real men don't wash their own clothes! They go to the dry cleaners!"

Kyo turned from the hurricane like stat that was his hallway/laundry room combo and faced his bathroom. At least _he _would be clean.

**Oo0oO**

Grumbling about lack of soap, Kyo made his way back to the kitchen tripping over one of the numerous laundry baskets that littered his walkway. Turning into the kitchen, he found that he had left the mild out. It had gone warm in the extremely long time that it had taken to take a shower, despite the lack of soap.

Muttering curses under his breath, Kyo stuffed the lukewarm milk back into the fringe. Not knowing what else to cook, he stood in front of his cupboards for a full five minutes before opting on dry cereal.

_Gross. _He thought. _I really should cook something else. _But no other ideas came to mind. _What did Tohru always use to make us?_

Angrily, Kyo shoved a handful of cornflakes into his mouth. He was thinking of Tohru. Again.

His mouth dry and his wet hair dripping into his eyes, Kyo decided to do something. Anything. He needed to get Tohru out of his mind. It was going to drive him crazy.

Feeling father lame as he did so, Kyo gathered his laundry and jammed it all in a large plastic bag. He slung it over his shoulder, called to Kazuki that he was leaving and headed off for the Laundromat. He actually hoped that Misa bout be at her door wishing her friend off. Then he could at last ask her to walk with him to distract him and take his mind off of Tohru. But fate was working wonders against him that day and Misa wasn't at the door. There was nary a sound coming from the house and it was hard for Kyo to decide whether Misa's friends were all gone home or if they were still asleep.

So Kyo walked alone. He concentrated on stepping on each block of concrete three times each. He knew he looked stupid, but it kept him distracted from his wondering thoughts. For a while that is.

As he wan on his second step on his 85th slab of concrete, he looked up and saw it. The car dealership. The _Honda _car dealership.

Kyo ran the rest of the way there.

Without sorting colors from whites, Kyo stuffed as much laundry as would fit into the nearest machine. Then, huffing back onto the nearest bench, he picked up a magazine from the rack next to him at random. He wasn't much of a magazine reader, but seeing as he had nothing better to do he read on. He flipped it open to any page and found himself looking down at happy couple hugging. The girl looked a bit like Tohru, but a second glance told him it was in fact not her. Moodily, Kyo flipped to the next page. The magazine wasn't doing its job of distracting him.

Then next page found him staring at a full page ad.

"_Remember your high school crush?"_

It asked him.

"_Well, find out what happened to them on classmates. com!"_

Kyo threw the magazine onto the floor in a fit. He knew what had happened to his high school crush. He didn't need some website to help him.

The music playing overhead changed from talking to radio. Lacking anything better to do, Kyo listened.

"_I walk along the city streets you used to walk along with me,_

_And every step I take reminds me of just how we used to be._

_  
Well, how can I forget you, girl?_

_  
When there is always something there to remind me._

_  
Always something there to remind me._

_  
As shadows fall, I pass a small cafe where we would dance at night._

_  
And I can't help recalling how it how it felt to kiss and hold you tight_

_  
Well, how can I forget you, girl?_

_  
When there is always something there to remind me._

_  
Always something there to remind me._

_  
I was born to love her, and I'll never be free._

_  
You'll always be a part of me."_

Kyo let out a strangled cry and wrenched the washer door open. Pulling out sopping clothes, Kyo threw them back into the plastic garbage bag, mixing wet with dry, and hurried out of the building. An old man sitting next to him gave him the evil eye then continued on with his book reading.

**Oo0oO**

Pacing up and down the carpet in his apartment, Kyo couldn't take it any longer. His muddled brain was in a frenzy and he didn't seem to be in control of his legs. They continued to put one foot in front of the other, dragging him around against his will. Willing himself to calm down, Kyo thought through his predicament. He had walked past that car dealership nearly everyday of his life. It was only now that he had heard from Tohru that it was driving him crazy. That song, an oldie, played all the time. It was nothing to freak out about. It wasn't speaking about him. At all. Cornflakes were cornflakes. Not an epiphany.

Needing something to keep his hands busy, Kyo started sprucing up his house. It had fallen apart a bit in the last weeks. When he was finally pleased with the state it was in, Kyo started in on organizing. His clothes were far beyond repair, so he would just have to worry about those later. Not once was his mind _not _on Tohru.

Pulling a box he wasn't sure why he had out from under his bed, Kyo opened it and saw high school memorabilia stacked inside. He remembered now what it was. Shishou had packed it for him so that he could "Look back fondly on his high school years." He had asked everyone Kyo had known to put something in there. Shigure had been the first to pack something in, and it was because of that, that Kyo had never opened it. Knowing the perv, it would be something he would not want to see. But if he thought back, Kyo realized that he had in fact already opened it. That was where he had gotten the orange cat for An. From this box.

Knowing that he shouldn't be looking at it, for fear that he would show up later in the local loony bin, he peered inside. He sifted through the top layer, papers with outstanding marks, report cards, a goodbye card from his fan club (he had wanted to throw it away, but Shishou insisted on him keeping it,) Kyo got to the meat of the box.

Here and there, there were pictures. Most were from when Arisa had gone picture crazy on their school trip. Here and there he saw familiar faces: Hana eating, Manabe tackling Yuki, the two dorks flirting with the class girls. The edge of a wooden frame caught his eye. He pulled it out, sending a landslide of other papers back into the box.

The picture was covered by brown paper. The paper was covered in Shigure's loopy handwriting and Kyo was sure that Shigure had worked on this when he was supposed to be working on his book. The handwriting was hard to read, but Kyo supposed that was the way that it was supposed to be. Shigure had always liked to torture him.

"_Kyo-kun-sama._

"_This is from your most merciful substitute guardian. I know that I am special in your heart, _(here Kyo scoffed) _so I would like you to have this in payment for what I am about to do. I truly am sorry. I hope you have a good life, even with the hardship that is going to come your way. Hopefully this small reminder will help you undo the pain that I caused._

"_Kind regards,_

"_Shigure Sohma."_

Kyo wasn't sure what to make of the writing on the paper. The first part seemed like a joke, but the ending… He wasn't all that sure. Deciding just to ignore it, Kyo ripped the paper off. He jumped back when he saw the picture.

It was a picture of him and Tohru. Obviously it was a candid shot. Kyo hadn't been fond of having his picture taken and if he did, he often had a sour look on his face. But in this picture, taken from the side, he was smiling and Tohru was smiling along with him. Her hair was blowing out from the two pigtails that she had on the side of her head. Her eyes were closed and she appeared to be laughing at something he had said. He was pointing at something in the distance. The bottom of his arm took up most of the picture, and the only part of Tohru that was visible was her head, but it was a picture of them none the less.

Suddenly it was all clear to him: Shigure had been planning that fateful night all along. The night the curse was broken. The night that Tohru was broken.

With out thinking, Kyo rose to his feet, stomped up the hall and was on the phone before he realized it.

"Hello?" A quiet voice picked up.

"Tohru?" Kyo asked.

Tohru was shocked to be addressed by her first name, but she found the sound oddly familiar and comforting.

"Um yes, this is her. Is this you Kyo-san?"

"Kyo-kun."

"What?"

"Being called –san makes me twitch. Just call me Kyo."

"Kyo-kun."

"What?"

"Nothing. I just wanted to try it out."

Kyo bit back an outburst. This conversation was turning out to be awfully familiar.

"What ever. Anyway, I wanted to call you and tell you that I'm all for the meeting. Just give me the time and place and I'll be there."

**Oo0oO**

**And so it ends. This was a really long chapter for me! And I wrote it all in one sitting. Kind of. I kinda wrote the beginning on paper.**

**I was counting on doing a lot more things to remind him of Tohru, but it was getting far too long and I know that some of you (cough****ScourgeofBloodClancough) are just like me and can't sit through long chapters. And if you will notice, the last bit of dialog actually comes from the book! n.n It makes me happy!**

**Anyway…….. If you have any questions, don't be afraid to ask. In review form!! C:**


	5. Re meet

**I am so sorry for the long wait on updating. But I got banned from the computer for a couple of days, spent mucho time with my friends, swam a ton, went shopping for a whole day (food shopping… My fave…) played Sims and was all around lazy. But here is the next chapter. It isn't as if I didn't work on it at **_**all. **_**I did, but I just didn't type it on the computer… XD**

**Here I go. You must be thankful. I am stopping my Breaking Dawn reading to update for you. (I call it Breaking Wind… XD)**

**Oo0oO**

**Disclaimer: I don't own fruits basket. Nuff said.**

**Oo0oO**

The next day found Kyo standing outside a diner fidgeting with a tie that he had borrowed from Shishou. The sun was shining brightly through a layer of white fluffy clouds and Kyo was hot in his long-sleeved black dress shirt. He seemed to have the unfortunate habit of picking out the worst clothing for the weather outside. He was sure that one day he would end up wearing swim trunks in a snow storm. But the diner Tohru had picked for their little get together required that he wore nice clothes, therefore there was little he could do.

It had been abnormally hot for summer. The grass that surrounded most buildings around town was brown and scraggily. Patches of green had once existed but now lay barren from over exposure to the sun and too little water. Cars once sparkling clean, stood dusty and shabby in their drives, awaiting their next drive and acquisition of a new layer of dust. The people too were slower. Their desire to move and do things seemed to have dried up with the water. It wasn't quite a drought, but it was as close as it had gotten for a long time.

The diner itself was small, with arched doorways and vaulted ceilings. Live ivy ran up the door frames and on the open beams of the ceilings. Kyo could tell, even from outside the building that it was sure to be quaint and slightly girlish with flowers in a vase on every clothed table. Just standing there, Kyo felt a bit embarrassed and he didn't know how he would feel inside the cutesy establishment. The lawn, though dry from the uncharacteristic summer heat, sprawled out around the clapboard building, neatly trimmed and edged. The diner itself was geographically close to a busy street, but a hedged-in parking lot and shrubs lining the sidewalk gave the impression that it was actually a rural building, lost in time.

Kyo looked out at the scattered few people, keeping an eye pealed for Tohru. He was propped up on a white painted bench outside leaning forward, his elbows on his knees. For this vantage point, he had a clear view of the comings and goings to either side of him. So far there had been no sightings of Tohru. But Kyo _had _gotten there a whole half an hour early. He had known that she would arrive early, as per usual and he didn't want her to have to wait (or worry) for him

And suddenly, there she was.

It was almost like magic really. One minute Kyo was looking off to the left when a skinny, bottle-blonde lady scampered past chatting on her cell phone, briefly blocking his relentless view. He was cursing the business lady under his breath when she just _appeared. _Her brown hair showed up first. Sure, brown hair was very common, but no grown adult (or so Kyo liked to think of himself) still clung to their childish ways. The girl's hair was pulled up into twin pony tails on the sides of her head, a trademark and distinctive do of Tohru's.

And then, there it was, the sight that Kyo most wanted to see: two bright eyes and the contagious toothy smile. The sight of Tohru's face after so long without it was like a spurt of cold water running down his spine. Seeing it again he didn't know how he had been able to give it up and more over he didn't know how he had lived for so long without it. It was like his drug. His life was complete the moment that shining smile broke through his clouded mind.

She hadn't spotted him yet, which was all well for Kyo. After so long, minus the day earlier, to finally be able to see Tohru, it was a shocking experience. He didn't necessarily want Tohru's second first impression of him to be a flushed face and a strained expression. She would deem him sick and if he insisted that he wasn't, she would tread carefully around him nonetheless. He didn't want his meeting with Tohru marred by an imaginary sickness.

His cool collected, or what was left of it, Kyo stood up from his bench. His knees cracked, which grossed him out for long enough to distract him from who had obviously seen him and was now walking toward him, waving an arm over her head. Proud of the fact that his face remained its sun-tanned color, Kyo waved back to Tohru. He was ready to face the music.

**Oo0oO**

It turned out that Kyo was right about the inside of the restaurant. There were large, white table-clothed tables, scattered around the room accented with silver spoons and large bouquets of red and purple flowers. There weren't any booths, the usual trappings that came with diners, only high backed wooden chairs. It seemed to be a quality establishment (and Kyo was glad he had dressed up) but it had a homey, family feel to it.

Tohru kept up polite chatter as she dragged Kyo (mentally, not physically) to a corner table. She nodded to the doorman, who gave her a happy wink and a nod. The waitresses and waiters waved and called out heys and hellos. Tohru caught Kyo's look of confusion at al the signs of familiarity shown toward her.

"Oh! Kyo-kun… I guess I never told you. I work here…"

"That's nice."

"Oh yes! When I told my manager—that's him over there—that I was going to meet a friend, he told me that we should meet here. Wouldn't be as uncomfortable."

Tohru blushed a bit, realizing too late that she was commandeering the conversation.

"Well, it hasn't been uncomfortable so far. At least to me…" Kyo glanced up from his shoes, which he had been looking at as he walked.

"Oh!" Tohru breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good!"

They had arrived at one of the smaller circular tables. Kyo stalled for a minute, wondering where he should sit. There were plenty of chairs, six or seven of them, but he still wasn't sure of the most appropriate place to sit. In days gone by he would have just plopped down right next to Tohru without a second thought. But it had been three years and Tohru had no memory of the time she had spent with him before that.

But Kyo was saved from further overanalyzing when Tohru announced:

"You can't very well eat standing up! Please, take a seat."

After which, Kyo promptly sat down in a seat, conveniently located across the table form Tohru. He was exempt from asking any questions or starting up a conversation; the waiter had just shown up. And it wasn't just any waiter: it was the manager himself.

"Kurosoki-sama!" (ooc- my tribute to bleach… XD) Tohru bowed her head in her manager's direction.

"Honda-san!" The man chortled. "Great to see you on the receiving end this time."

He put a hand to the side of his mouth and stage whispered to Kyo.

"She's good at everything! Everyone is fighting over who gets her. And she hasn't taken a day off work since she started."

He sniffed back a load of fake tears.

"She's every manager's dream!"

This it was back to his brisk, happy, normal voice.

"So, today, as a special treat, _I_ will be serving_ you._"

He then proceeded to tell them the specials, what he recommended and what soups there were. Kyo was impressed by his professional attitude and had a feeling that the young manager had worked his way from the bottom all the way to where he was now.

They both had no problem deciding what they wanted to eat. Tohru had worked at the shop long enough to know what was good and Kyo had been craving shogayaki for weeks. The manager walked away from their table, all orders in hand.

Despite what Kyo had originally thought, it was easier to start up a conversation with Tohru than he had expected. They spoke of their lives after high school. Tohru was especially interested in his work as a cop. Kyo wasn't particularly interested in her fiancé. The only problem with their conversation was that Kyo kept calling Tohru, "Tohru." He knew that he should call her by "Honda-san" since they had "just met," but his mind kept reverting back to what he had called her for most of his life.

"Sorry for calling you Tohru…" Kyo said after their steaming plates of food arrived. He broke his chopsticks apart and began eating.

"Oh no!" Tohru blushed and waved her hands in front of her. "You don't have to worry about that. I-I don't mind if you do! It seems… familiar some how."

She put her chopsticks up to her chin in thought, smearing red sauce on her face.

"You've got something on your face." Kyo deadpanned.

Tohru jumped and grabbed a linen napkin off her lap. She began dabbing at her face spastically.

They began eating again after Tohru had calmed down. Her napkin was placed back on her lap and her shining face was clean. A polite conversation started up and they fell into a comfortable pace. Talk, eat, and listen.

Their conversation, however, was brought to a halt by Kyo's cell phone going off.

Kyo cursed under his breath. He thought he had turned the darned thing off.

"You mind if I get this?" He asked Tohru. If it was Yuki, he was dead.

"Sure." Tohru answered simply.

Kyo reached into his pants pocket and pulled out the dreaded bit of technology. He hadn't even wanted it, but Shishou had insisted on getting it for him on his eighteenth birthday, his first party with friends: Sana, Rei, Kaji, Tsujiai and his evil cousin Yuu, Yuki, Tohru, and, must unwelcome, Kagura and the Student council. It was sad how most of those people didn't even remember being there.

He flipped the phone open. The number was not familiar, but then again, that meant it wasn't Yuki. Kyo had all of Yuki's phone numbers programmed into his phone and Machi would never ever let him use a pay phone.

He sighed and pressed the phone to his ear.

"Hello?" He asked in a tired voice.

"Kyo-kun!" It was Misa.

"Yes Misa?"

"I was wondering if you were free today. Sorry for pestering you, but I _really _need to get this project done soon."

Kyo slapped his forehead and groaned.

"I forgot. But listen Misa, I promise that sometime soon we'll find a quiet place to sit down and talk."

"Hey! That's a-okay! You just go on being Mr. Forgetful. You're the one who is taking the time out of _your _schedule to help me. I know you'll remember sooner or later. "

"That'll be the day." Kyo grunted.

The closed their conversations in the usual way. Kyo was still frowning.

"That was Misa…" He explained to Tohru.

"Oh!" Tohru nodded. "Is she a friend?"

"I… guess…" Kyo said slowly. He wasn't sure himself. "It's different."

"Then why are you frowning if you just talked to her?"

"I was going to call her and we were going to talk about… things, but I forgot."

Kyo didn't feel like explaining everything to Tohru. This meeting was supposed to be about him and Tohru, not Misa

They talked for a while longer. Yuki was brought up once, sending a lurch through Kyo's stomach. He was knowingly going against an order of the head of his family and advice of his friend. Tohru asked about how he (Yuki) was doing, and Kyo told her he was fine and that he was married and had a daughter. He told her that she (An) had just had her third birthday and that he (Kyo) had given her a cat.

"You liked cats didn't you?" Tohru thought back to her time in high school.

"Um. It was more like cats liked me…"

Tohru laugh as the manager waddled up to the table.

"I see that you're all done! Would you like dessert?"

"No. I'm full." Kyo chimed in.

"I think we'll just pay." Tohru said as she reached for her purse. At the same time, Kyo reached for his wallet.

"Oh no!" the manager chuckled. "There won't be paying today! It's not everyday that you get to pamper Honda-san, who works oh-so hard. And any tip that you leave me will be added to your paycheck in the end!"

His last comment was directed toward Tohru, who had been slipping a few coins and folded bills onto the table. She blushed and put them back in her bag. Discreetly, Kyo slipped a tip onto the table. The manager smiled and left.

An awkward sort of silence filled the air, neither one of them knowing what to say. It was obviously time to part ways, but how to go about doing so.

"Well!" Tohru broke the ice. "It was great seeing you.'

"Oh! Yeah! It was." Kyo wasn't lying.

"We should get together again some time." Tohru smiled.

"I look forward to it."

**Oo0oO**

**Awww!! I just got back from babysitting the cutest girl! She is only three, but she has the brains of like a five or six year old. Seriously. She uses words like "beautiful" and "incredible" in the right context and she sings songs that she makes up and they actually rhyme and make sense. (She used another word while she was washing her hands, but I can't remember it…) She loves the Disney Princesses so she wore her princess dresses and she dressed me up in necklaces and called me the "Princess of Love" and she was the "Queen of Love." AW!! I can't get over how cute she is! If you ever meet her, you will love her as much as I do! SO CUTE!! n.n**

**But, I will update soon. I have FOJ in the freezer. It is awaiting me to spark my muse…**


	6. Goings on

**A/N: I am lazy. No A/N. Except there is. XD I don't really like the way this chapter turned out, but I'll put it up here anyway. It's better for me to move on rather than to fret and to obsess over a chapter that I don't like. This is a bit of a transition chapter, so bear with me. It will save you from chapter upon chapters of useless redundancies. This is from Tohru's POV, FYI.**

**Oo0oO**

**Disclaimer: No. Not mine.**

**Oo0oO**

"_Here you are" Kyo pronounced as he set the flimsy paper bowl down on the table. Inside it was a bountiful stock of goopy strawberry ice cream._

_They were sitting on a wire table outside a small ice cream shop. It had been another one of those unbearable hot days when you just didn't feel like moving or exerting yourself at all._

"_Ah!" Tohru's eyes brighten. "Strawberry!"_

"_I thought you would like it." Kyo told her before he pulled his own chair out. He began eating his own ice cream._

"_I do! I love it.' Tohru gushed as she picked up her own bowl. "It's my favorite."_

_She took a lick before continuing._

"_What'd you get, Kyo-kun?" She licked a strawberry moustache off of her upper lip_

"_What?" Kyo had been so preoccupied licking his own cone that he was a bit surprised by her sudden question. "Oh, strawberry. Like you."_

"_Oh. Hum…" Tohru licked her spoon in thought. "I never pinned Kyo-kun for someone who liked strawberry." She laughed and returned to her rapt ice cream eating._

_Kyo shrugged her comment off. "A good friend of mine liked strawberries, so I guess she rubbed off on me._

_Tohru laughed and proceeded to accidentally stuff her nose into her pink dish._

**Oo0oO**

"Honda-san?"

Tohru jumped from her seat behind the counter. There was a clatter as she rose and she saw her circular serving tray roll away. It had fallen out of her lap in her rush to stand. Her face flushed slightly, both from remembering the embarrassing nose burring incident and for being caught daydreaming on the job.

"Your order is up," continued the voice that had interrupted her thought.

"Oh! Right! Thank you Kuckiki-san!" (ooc- XD I had to!)

Tohru seized the tray, nearly spilling the over flowing contents of the plates and drink refills. She rushed over to table nine, her table, and quickly began laying out the order.

"Sorry!" Tohru began as way of greeting. "It, your meal I mean, would have been here earlier, but"—and here Tohru's face reddened—"I dozed off a bit."

"It's okay dearie."

The occupants of table nine were an elderly couple who were regular patrons of the diner. They were familiar with Tohru's scatter-brained antics and lover her all the more for it.

"Enjoy!" Tohru remarked as she backed away from the table backwards, head bowed.

She plopped back down on to her low chair with a heavy exhale. The café hadn't been busy that day, it being the end of the week. This left her with plenty of time to think. She smiled softly, her eyebrows knitting together slightly at the thought of another memory.

**Oo0oO**

_The day was losing its final light. The blazing sun sunk down below the cottony tangerine clouds, giving one final hurrah before giving up the ghost and being engulfed by the murky sky. The region was bathed in a glow that lit up everything with a soft golden shimmer. Even the dust mites were illuminated. Shadows spread along the ground, creeping farther and farther up the sidewalk._

_But, though it was near dusk, the path was still littered with people. Kyo and Tohru were farther down the footpath, detached from the main hustle and bustle. Kyo was stretched out on the ground in front of the bench that Tohru was perched on. They were laughing slightly, remembering a comical moment in their high school career. Tohru wasn't sure what to talk about with Kyo, even after all their meetings. He still seemed a bit distant to her, though she supposed that she still didn't know him all that well. This may have been the way he always acted. The best way to connect was t talk about things they had in common. And then there was that nagging curiosity…_

_They sat (or lay) in silence for a while, out of things to say. Kyo's eyes were fluttering open and closed. Tohru was sure that he was tired. Handing out with her a couple of times a week must have been taking its toll, what with his demanding work schedule and rigid college classes adding to his burden. If Tohru hadn't been enjoying herself so much during their little visits, she would have insisted that he stop meeting up with her to rest. He was helping her so immeasurably and he seemed to be having fun as well._

"_So," Tohru began. She kicked her feet, banding her heels onto the concrete just above Kyo's head. "Did you ever meet up with Misa-san?"_

_Kyo sat up, dodging Tohru's incoming foot with agility that could only be described as "cat-like."_

"_DANG IT!" Kyo yelled._

_Tohru giggled. "I would take that as a no."_

"_Yes." Kyo grunted._

"_What? Have you talked to her? I asked you if you had and then you yelled so I thought that you hadn't. But then you said yes"—_

"_Don't worry about it." Kyo snapped._

_Tohru was stunned into silence. Kyo had never talked to her like that._

_Kyo regretted the words the moment Tohru stopped talking. He could feel the waves of despondency roll off her and it made him sick to his stomach. He jumped to his feet and flopped down next to the dejected girl._

"_Aw! Gee!" Kyo exclaimed. "Aw, Tohru don't listen to me. I man! I know nothing! You woman! You know everything!"_

**Oo0oO**

A timer buzzed off, jerking Tohru out of her musing. She realized with a start that she had been sitting there, staring blankly at the cream colored wall for a near fifteen minutes. It was time that she checked up on her tables.

**Oo0oO**

Tohru slouched back to her seat. The elderly couple really was a couple of talkers, not that Tohru particularly minded. It was a great feeling to exchange a few polite words. But lately she was feeling less and lest interested in talking to strangers, albeit they came in nearly every week. No, instead she found herself longing to talk to a certain orange haired boy. He was easy to talk to when they had something to discuss, and there was something about him that made Tohru thing he had all the answers to all her questions about… things.

**Oo0oO**

"_Knock, knock." Kyo said through the door. It was slightly ajar, revealing the frantic, scrubbing girl inside._

_Tohru jerked up from her feverish scrubbing. Her eyes lit up then blinked a few times. The light turned to panic as she tried to hide what she thought was a messy house._

"_Kyo-kun!" She yelped. "What are you doing here?"_

"_I was just wondering if you wanted to pick up a bite to eat." Kyo stated in monotone. He gestured over his shoulder with his thumb._

_Tohru peered around at her "grimy" house and grimaced._

"_I really wish that I could, but I haven't had time to clean my house recently…" Tohru petered off, glancing around at her surroundings._

"_I got it. No problem." Kyo held up his hands. He thought for a second. "I can help you if you wanted me to…"_

_Tohru blanched. "No! Please! I could never ask you to do something like that for me." She waved her hands in distress._

_Kyo cocked his head to the side. "It was me who suggested it. You can at least let me cook dinner for you."_

_When Tohru started shaking her head, Kyo retaliated._

"_You don't think I'm that bad of a cook do you? Come on! Please? You get your house cleaned and I eat for free!"_

_Tohru thought for a moment then nodded. She would enjoy the company. _

_After a while, the two sat down around Tohru's mini table. It was groaning with the weight of food for two. It was a simple enough meal, but the taste was agreeable. It had a practiced hint to it._

"_This is good Kyo-kun! Where did you learn to cook like this?"_

_Kyo swallowed and then he answered._

"_It's survival instincts really. At Tohru's confused look he smiled, looked sad for a moment and then continued._

"_My dad didn't know how to cook."_

_Their conversation fell into a null. They ate for a while, the only sound coming from the clink of their bowls and the click of their chopsticks._

"_I don't really remember you much from high school…" Tohru began. "Well, I don't remember seeing you around. I know you were in my class, but…"_

_A flicker of… something… crossed Kyo's face, but it was replaced almost instantly by a weak smile._

"_Yeah, I guess I don't seem like the kind of guy to hang around nice girls like you."_

_Tohru smiled._

"_You're with me now!"_

**Oo0oO**

Tohru scurried over to the table where the elderly couple was sitting. She asked if they would like dessert. When they said no, she brought them their check. As she was escorting them to the door, one of her personal traditions, a mop of orange hair appeared through the frosted window.

Kyo held the door open for the couple and nodded to them as the passed on their way out.

Tohru smiled warmly at him. He held up a hand, in which was a DVD case. It was an anime.

"I borrowed it from a relative. Wanna watch it?"

"My shift ends in a few minutes. If you sit here, I'll come get you when I'm done."

Kyo grinned. "Deal."

**Oo0oO**

**And after a long wait and pure laziness on my part, this chapter is finally up. But all of the fault cannot be blamed on me. Curse the creators of Bleach if anyone! For I cannot go one day without seeing Ulquiorra, Grimmjow, and Gin. Since these are the bad guys and very are elusive, you don't get to see much of them. Thus I have to watch each and every episode very thoroughly. But since the Arrancar arc is over, I won't get to see the first two much, and I will loose my interest in Bleach all over again. (The Bount were annoying!!)**

**Since I don't even want to look over this, a spell check is all you get. Hopefully there won't be too many "hat-s" in place of "had-s..." :P**

**Oh! And I have to say this. If you go to my profile I have a pictures of Yuki's family and Misa. I also have pictures of all of the other OCs that I have... I'll update those soon so that they have all of the info on them... Just click on the link and it'll take you to the pictures that I've pasted together. Best of wishes!**


	7. Bowling for trouble

**So this has been a hectic last couple weeks. Sorry for the huge gap in my updating, but school started and I got overloaded with homework the first day. I had my first test today and I've only been in school for a week… we also went to the beach this weekend, so a good portion of this chapter was written in the squashy confines of our Durango on the way home. Sorry if this isn't first class material, but I wanted to churn this out before you all killed me for taking so long… XD Anyway… sorry for the long wait. I'm not going to promise to hurry the next chapter since it seems that whenever I do, I always take forever to update. But the next chapter is a short one… so who knows…**

**So, without any further adieu I present to you…**

**My disclaimer!! XD Me no own Furuba. If I did… I don't know. What if I did?**

**Oo0oO**

Kyo was not the kind to keep secrets. Well, more over he had never really had any secrets to keep. Sure, sure, there was the whole curse thing, but other than that all her really had were feelings he kept bottled up. Kyo was a brash enough person to tell someone exactly what he was thinking, even if it would hurt their feelings or injure their pride. He wasn't usually one to keep things in the dark, so Kyo's secret was ripping him to shreds.

Normally, he would have gone right to Shishou for help with his problem. What was a father figure for, if not to help you when you were down and lend you a shoulder to lean on? Shishou, being the only parent figure in his life, was who Kyo had started to turn to more often recently. But considering the situation and the people involved, Kyo was stuck in the muck, so to speak.

So it was a welcome relief when his phone buzzed.

Kyo stopped his insistent pacing from lazy chair to lazy chair and waddled over to the receiver and pressed it to his ear.

Kazuki leaped off the couch, a place where he knew he wasn't supposed to be, and trotted over to his ceramic food bowl. He had been watching Kyo pace back and for, which was slightly comical to him. Kyo-kun-being was full of unbridled foreboding and anxiety these days, and it was with a kitty-cat smirk that Kazuki watched Kyo's frantic antics. As much as the cared for the orange haired man, it was far more amusing to watch him carve a groove into the carpet. Kazuki, the sadist.

For a minute on the other end of the phone, there was only a fuzzy scratchy sound. Kyo was about to hang up, a prank call to add onto the list of his qualms. But then a familiar voice broke through.

"Kyo-kun?" the voiced called.

"Haru?" Kyo asked. His eyes and attitude perked up instantly. Haru had become somewhat of a friend to him and they had started doing more things together after Haru had graduated and Kyo had matured past his biased dislike of the boy.

"This is he. Sorry for the bad reception. I'm on the fringe of a dead zone.'

"Move around a bit; it'll clear up the signal." Kyo told him.

"I don't want to loose this call." Haru answered in his normal monotone voice.

"It doesn't matter if you do. You can just call me back," Kyo pointed out.

"But I'm feeling rather attached to this call." Haru deadpanned.

Kyo blinked and sighed. "What?"

"I don't want this call to get lost. I'll never find it again."

Kyo slapped a hand to his forehead. He should have expected something like this from Haru.

"Whatever." Kyo told him. "You don't have to move."

"Ah! Thank you!" Haru sighed, sounding genuinely relieved.

"So, what did you call me for?" Kyo asked. His good mood that had materialized when Haru called had all but evaporated.

"I was wondering if you wanted to go bowling." Haru wasn't one to beat around the bush. Sometimes…

"I don't bowl." Kyo stated simply.

"Neither to I."

Kyo ran his fingers through his need-to-be-cut hair.

"I might as well…"

"Yay." Haru exclaimed in a voice that didn't sound excited at all.

"I'll meet you at the ally." And Kyo hung up.

**Oo0oO**

Once they had traded in their shoes for the slippery bowling shoes, Haru and Kyo turned and headed to their lane, number seven. Haru sat down on one of the swivel chairs and started to pull on his new pair of shoes. He had a bit of a hard time, as well as Kyo. Both of their shoes were too small. Bowling shoes didn't seem to cater to people with abnormally large feet.

But even in the calm and relaxing presence of the nothing-can-bother-me boy and with the slight pressure on his toes, Kyo's frenzied attitude could not be calmed. He continued pacing up and down in front of the lane. But since the width of the lane was so small, Kyo would only take a step then turn around and continue the pattern. It looked as if he was doing some sort of spastic hopping dance. Haru watched for a while after he had finally managed to pull on his shoes and tie the broken laces. He stood up and brushed off his black pants. He looked slightly comical; his red and blue bowling shoes clashed terribly with his all over punk outfit, complete with dog collar.

He cracked his neck, left to right, then sauntered over to a bowling ball rack. He picked up a lavender ball, weighed it in his hand and nodded. By the time he had returned Kyo was still doing his step-turn-step dance in front of the lane. Haru cleared his throat loudly, causing Kyo to jump.

"You've got to calm down if you want to bowl properly," Haru told him, eyes serious and mouth set.

"Like you would know." Kyo mumbled as he made his way over to his seat. Haru had already taken the liberty of typing their names into the newfangled machines, so their names were blinking on the TV screen above their lanes.

Haru took his shot and his ball rolled right down the lane and smacked into the red and white pins at the end. As all the pins toppled, the TV flashed a large "X" signifying Haru's strike.

Mumbling about beginners luck under his breath, Kyo stood up and grabbed a ball. It felt around the right weight so he took it and made his shot. It ran halfway down the slick trail before clunking into the groves on the side of the lane.

"Gutter ball…" Haru commented.

"Yeah," Kyo grunted. "I noticed."

Kyo was still not in a good mood. Rather than waiting for his ball to come up, Kyo grabbed another ball and threw it down the lane. It didn't hit the lane until three-fourths of the way down. When it touched down, it rolled and clipped one of the pins. It fell, taking two others with it.

Kyo roared at the remaining pins and gave them dagger eyes.

When Kyo's pins had been cleaned up, Haru grabbed his ball nonchalantly and threw another strike.

The two continued to play in silence. With every strike thrown by Haru and less than satisfactory throws by himself, Kyo's temper grew and grew. Probably because of this, Kyo's mediocre performance got worse and worse as time went on. Before he knew it, he was throwing nothing but gutter balls.

"It's not too late to get bumper pads…" Haru offered as yet another one of Kyo's feeble attempts at a throw fell off into the ditch on the side of the slick wood.

Kyo let out a mighty roar and stomped off in a huff to his seat. Haru stood up and, to no one's surprise, threw yet another strike.

**Oo0oO**

Haru watched as an agitated Kyo sat down after his fifth scratch. He flopped down into the chair next to Haru's with his arms crossed and a scowl apparent on his sun tanned face. Blinking his expressionless eyes a few times, Haru stared at his cranky elder relative for a few seconds before rising to his feet.

"Let's go get something to eat." He stated.

Kyo stared up at him in surprise. "Right in the middle of our game?"

Haru shrugged. "I don't see how it matters. It wasn't much of a game anyway."

Despite his foul mood, Kyo let Haru's last snarky comment by and he rose to his feet. The two boys meandered over to one of the carious vending machines and paid for their snacks. Kyo waited as patiently as his short temper would allow as Haru painstakingly debated between two nearly identical treats.

Haru motioned for Kyo to follow him to one of the plastic booths and Kyo followed him skeptically; he wasn't sure why they didn't just go back and eat at their lane.

"Why are we sitting here? Why not at our lane?" Kyo asked as he took his seat.

"Over protective much?" Haru ripped open a bag of ketchup flavored potato chips.

"No! I just don't want anything to happen to it while we're gone!" Kyo exclaimed, realizing as he did so that he was proving Haru's point.

"What's the worst that could happen?" Haru accented his statement by crunching down on a crispy bit of his food.

"I don't know! Some little squirt could throw a ball down our lane and screw up the game." Kyo offered as an explanation. He bit down on a piece of strawberry poccy.

"You shouldn't be worried. It couldn't hurt your game at all. You need all the help you can get."

Kyo's temper rose along with his body. He slammed his palms down on the table, although not with as much gusto as he would have liked.

"I don't appreciate your constant cracks about how badly I suck at bowling!!" Kyo's voice was loud and dangerous.

Haru's usually soft eyes hardened. "And I don't appreciate you taking your anger out on me just because of your crappy mood."

Kyo blinked and then huffed back down into the plastic booth. His uncontrollable temper was back down to a manageable level. Haru was right. Kyo had been a bit quick to anger. Haru had been his usual teasing self, but Kyo had stupidly taken it personally.

"Sorry." Kyo muttered.

"No offence taken." Haru stated as he popped open an orange soda. He made on move to apologize for his snappy one liner. "You've seemed kind of… cranky and absent-minded recently."

Kyo cringed and nodded.

"You want to talk about it?"" Haru asked before he took a swig of his drink. He wiped away an orange moustache as Kyo squirmed in his seat.

Here he, Kyo, was sitting in front of a person he could trust; but he couldn't bring himself to tell the younger boy. A concerned look fell into the boy's usually vacant eyes and Kyo was instantly reminded of just who he was talking to. Kyo sighed and his shoulders fell.

"I guess it would be better if I told you…" Kyo began. He started to twiddle his thumbs, but quit the moment he realized how sissy it seemed.

"I've seen Tohru!!" Kyo blurted out all at once before he could chicken out.

Haru nodded. "Yuki told me about that."

Kyo was confused for a moment before he realized what Haru was talking about.

"But it wasn't just a one time thing!" Kyo rushed, suddenly feeling the need to defend his time spent with the klutzy girl. "I've seen her a lot more since then!"

Haru choked on his soda surprise. "Getting a bit rebellious aren't we?" He asked between coughs.

Now that the secret was out, the dam broken, Kyo couldn't stop the out pouring of information. He leaned in and began telling Haru all about his escapades with Tohru.

**Oo0oO**

Haru was on his last ball and all feelings of camaraderie that may have sprung up over their short snack break had all but dissolved.

It seemed that venting to Haru about his life's worries didn't improve his game, proving to Haru that Kyo wasn't a natural bowler. Not, it seemed, like Haru.

While Kyo's overall total score had remained in the modest forties, Haru was going for a perfect game, that was, with all strikes.

Haru stepped up to the hypothetical plate and took aim. He swung his harm back and hurled the ball down the slick wooden path. Kyo held his breath as he followed the flight track of the heavy ball. It smacked into the pins at the end and Kyo sucked in breath.

Nine of the ten pins toppled and the tenth teetered between falling and remaining upright. Slowly, it settled back on its base, standing mockingly tall.

Kyo cheered and began jumping up and down in an unlike Kyo manner. He was sure that he wouldn't have been able to withstand the taunts and teasing that would come with Haru's winning a perfect game.

"Karma!" Haru warned with a satisfied smile.

Kyo heard a toppling sound as Haru's last pin fell, sealing Haru a perfect game.

**Oo0oO**

They submitted their scores with their shoes. The man an the counter sung Haru's praises as their first perfect game and was surprised to find that it was Haru's first time to bowl.

"Wow!" He exclaimed as he surveyed their scores on his computer monitor. "You must be really good. Either that or that partner of yours must really suck."

Kyo scowled as Haru cackled.

**Oo0oO**

Kyo sat in front of his phone having just finished calling a few select Sohmas. He had decided to follow Haru's advice.

"_You were the one who made her go crazy in the first place." _Haru had put it bluntly when Kyo had told him all about his time with Tohru. The words had stung. _"But if she didn't remember us, the rest of the Sohmas, when she saw you, what could it hurt for a few more of us to know about you and her. IF you feel up to it, I'm sure I know a few people who wouldn't mind hearing about Tohru and what she's been up to these last few years. And it wouldn't hurt you to share the burden."_

And Haru had been right. After confessing to a few—that didn't include Yuki—the weight on his chest, figuratively of course, had lifted. Now there was only one person left to call.

He picked up the receiver and let his fingers pick out the oh-so familiar number. She picked up on the first ring with a "hello?"

"Tohru! It's Kyo. How would it sound to you if I introduced you to a few of my friends some time?"

**Oo0oO**

**So! Here it is... the next chappy is a short one, but i don't know how soon I'll be able to get it out... (i like dots...)**

**But on a happier note, I now have two cans of FOJ in my freezer for me to eat when I get home!! Happy happy joy joy! I will eat them slowly and savor them.**

**Then next chapter, full of Kyoru love (I think...) will be dedicated to one of the people who reviews! I will take a lottery of names and who ever wins gets the chapter dedicated to them! So review! ALSO! check out my profile... I have pictures of Yuki and his familia up on there... It was a crappy photoshop job, but it gets it done! I also have drawn some pictures of an older An, but I haven't colored them yet, so they are just a sketch... I my put them up anyway...**


	8. Umbrella

_So, I am trying a new format… let's see how well this works out. Since this story is not quite as silly and a bit more serious then my last on, I want to try this out. Who am I kidding. It still isn't all that serious. I just wanted to try this… . I would also like to announce the winner of the drawing! And it is… drumroll… Nalanna!! Wow! That is weird because I was just answering an email from you… thinks Anyway, this is great, because you my be the only one that will appreciate my Bleach references…_

_R E R U N _

"_Don't sit under an umbrella waiting for it to rain"_

* * *

It had been one of those weeks were nothing happened. One dull, nondescript day blended in with the next until it was just one giant day. The highlight of the week had been the sudden opening of the sky and the torrential downpour that followed. But all too soon the excitement and high spirits that had come with the drizzle were brought back down to earth and before long, the constant pitter-patter on the roof was as familiar and monotonous as the schedule they worked. They sky had darkened with the coming storm, so that even at mid-day the town was alight with the false glow and hum of electric bulbs. Winter was fast approaching; the fall had gone by quickly, with little or no attention paid to it. It had always been just one more day of the routine job of yesterday.

Kyo splashed down the road, dodging the waves that a yellow car sent as it sped by. His mind wasn't on the weather, but rather on his day at work. He was dodging the pellets of water more by habit than consciously.

It had been a good day at the office, as one would say. And it had been. Only working part-time in the force, he had his own little desk tucked into a corner. It was a left over relic from before the station had been refurnished, but it was his desk. It was cleaner than the rest of the desks in the room; his clutter stashed away in drawers, and he had no picture frames to dot his desk. The only adornment was a crusty coffee cup, a mug of pens, a lamp, and a huge stack of post-its.

The rain was still coming down and Kyo was still beating himself up for forgetting his umbrella. Even as he walked under the dense trees, droplets of water hit him on the top of his head and ran down his cheek. He wiped it away absentmindedly and picked a bit of donut out from between his teeth.

The sidewalk ended and Kyo turned left into a break in the shrubs. He began his long trek up the cobblestone path to the restaurant where Tohru worked. Without the canopy of foliage overhead, the rain pounded down on him without hindrance. Kyo thought he felt welts rise up. He ran the rest of the way to the fogged glass door and stepped past the threshold and into the muggy air of the Kurosaki Diner. The orange haired owner waved at him, his usual scowl on his face, but still smiling. Kyo waved back to his kindred fighting spirit. It may have just been that they both had orange hair and a bit of a temper, but Kyo felt a bit of an attachment to the man.

Regular customers waved to Kyo as he passed and he raised an arm idly back. He caught a swish of chocolate hair turning the corner into the steamy kitchen and he followed it in.

No one was surprised to see Kyo behind the scenes. He was an unpaid employee in their books. A short, slight lady, the head chef, tossed him a while chef apron and he tied it on, smiling.

"Thanks, Kuchiki-san," Kyo told her.

"It's not a problem. I like the free labor. But you won't be able to call me that… never mind."

The stern lady blushed and scurried out of the kitchen mumbling something about "bathroom." Kyo just watched her go caught a bit unaware and slightly confused. While he stood there stupidly, Tohru snuck up behind him, as sneakily as she could manage and tried to clap her hands over his eyes. But she still had yet to grow the extra five inches it took to accomplish such a task. She ended up just whacking his chin.

Slightly taken aback by the sudden assault to his jaw bone, Kyo just sighed and guessed.

"On a whim, I'll say Tohru."

Tohru giggled and Kyo spun around. She was out of her apron and she had her traveling coat and mini umbrella tucked under her arm.

"Ah!" Kyo exclaimed. "I see you're all ready to go!"

"And I see that Kyo-kun is not!" Tohru smiled, motioning to the apron that he had just finished tying.

"Well, Kuchiki-san really is persistent. And I think she knows when I'm coming." Kyo stated dryly.

"Maybe she just heard your feet coming up the hallway?" Tohru offered.

Directing the conversation away from his feet, which were still sore from his too-small bowling shoes, Kyo began talking and untying he apron at the same time. They began walking toward the front entrance.

"She, Kuchiki-san, was acting weird today." He dropped the apron on a coat rack.

Tohru smiled a knowing smile and burst out, "Kurosaki-kun finally proposed!" just as they reached outside.

It was still raining heavily. The raindrops pounded down as steadily as a drummer's beat, giving a slurry, slow feeling to the air. The lawn was a swamp of evergreen grass and soupy, muddy water. All the dust that had collected in the dry nooks and crannies of the parched earth had suddenly turned to sludge the moment the rain had hit. The yard was awash with water and soggy leaves. The occasional prong of grass poked out, but for the most part the vegetation was submerged in the milky water. Kyo gave it a dark look and a disgruntled sigh.

"The only good thing about this weather is that it's too cold for bugs."

Tohru nodded her agreement as she popped open her girly pink umbrella. "Yes, it has been raining cats and dogs for a while now."

"Hey!" Kyo smiled at her, "I desist that comment!"

Tohru looked up at him wide eyed. "Why?"

"I prefer the saying 'it's raining rats and dogs.' They're the worst."

Tohru laughed, but Kyo could tell that she was a bit befuddled as to why he really thought that. The fact that she had forgotten about even his "dislike" for the two made him more than upset. His gloomy and downhearted mood must have showed, for Tohru picked up on it right away.

"Is Kyo-kun okay?" She asked, moving closer to see how he was. He backed away and scratched he down-turned head.

"Er… It's nothing. I just…" He cast his eyes around for a legitimate reason for his downcast manner. His eyes landed on her opened umbrella. "It's just that… I forgot my umbrella."

A look of comprehension dawned on Tohru's peppy face. "Oh! I see… Well! You can just share mine!" She inclined her umbrella a bit. Kyo cringed.

"Like I'd want to share-"but he bit back the rest of his retort. He had been going to finish up with "Why would I want to share a girly pink umbrella." He was past bad tempers now. He was a reasonable adult. Plus, this conversation was beginning to sound awfully familiar…

"What I mean is," he started over, "that I wouldn't want to have you get wet just because… I'm under the umbrella."

Tohru smiled the smile that still sent ice cube down his back. "That's very generous of you, Kyo-kun. But I really don't mind."

Tohru got a determined glint in her eye. "After all, what are a few raindrops to Tohru Honda?" she asked, with clenched fists. A wayward drop of rain splattered on her face and she yelped.

Kyo laughed and grabbed the pink umbrella that had been waving in his face while Tohru gave her mini monologue.

"Okay. We can. But I get to hold the umbrella."

Tohru considered and when she found this reasonable, she nodded. She stepped up and under the umbrella.

To say it was a tight squeeze would be an understatement. It was doing neither of them any good to stand under the umbrella, but Tohru was too nice to complain and Kyo too stubborn to move our from the flimsy shelter that the umbrella halfway provided. The two of them under Tohru's umbrella was like two bullies on the same street: two too many.

They made their way quietly up the river of a street and pushed their way upstream. Tohru hummed to herself and Kyo just walked, hand in pocket and rain splattered.

"What are you thinking" he asked, smiling. Tohru looked genuinely happy.

"Oh. I was just thinking how nice it is to be with you. It's almost like being with my fiancé again." Tohru smiled up at Kyo. "You are so much alike. I bet if you met him you would like him."

"I'd put up with him for you," Kyo confessed grudgingly.

"Yes," Tohru agreed as she snuggled down deeper into her jacket. "I really love him you know. I felt like I was missing something after high school and then I met him. He's my fairytale prince. It's my wish that Kyo-kun will find someone that can be his fairytale princess."

"I think I already found her," Kyo answered as he looked down at her. Tohru took it in stride and smiled up at him.

"I'm glad for Kyo-kun."

"How do you know if you're in love with someone?" Kyo asked suddenly.

Tohru took a breath to answer but then stopped. "I'm not sure…"

"Well… How do you know that you're in love with your"— Kyo couldn't bring himself to finish the sentence— "this guy?"

"Oh…" Tohru thought for a moment. "I guess it's the little things that let you know. You're just at ease with the person you love. You do everything with them; know everything there is to know about them. Even things they don' know. You can finish their sentences and can even tell what they're going to say before they start. You'll do thing that you wouldn't usually do, just to please them."

Kyo listened to Tohru as she chattered, an angelic glow about her innocent face. He watched the rain as it streaked down her face, giving her tears that went at odds the smile. A shudder of cold ran down her spine and Kyo had the great urge to throw an arm around her shoulders. He went with the prompting and gave her shoulders a squeeze.

She looked up at him, shocked, but then smiled up at his laughing face.

"You're funny when you're excited." Kyo smiled. Tohru smiled too. Kyo took is arm back and put it back in his pocket.

Under the umbrella, she continued smiling and talking, her quiet voice melding in with the steady beat of the falling rain. Under the umbrella, Kyo didn't really pay much heed to what she was actually saying; he just enjoyed the moment and the swell of his heart. Of him smiling at her and of her smiling back. Under the umbrella, the two of them walking through the storm under the tiny pink umbrella was all there was. Under the umbrella, the humdrum noises blended out and all there was was her and the rain. Under the umbrella, Kyo was in his own fairytale world, walking with his fairytale princess. Under the umbrella, he could face the world.

Under the umbrella, he was safe.

Under the umbrella, he was home.

* * *

**Excerpt from chapter nine:**

_Kyo propped himself up on his wooden seat, just in time to see the gnarled finger pointed his way. Kyo blanched when he realized who the late student had been. Though her hair was longer and she was a bit taller, with her cheery eyes and bright smile Kyo knew the girl right away. He shuddered as she sat down beside him._

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**So this was one of the most annoying chapters to write. Parts didn't make sense to me that you probably didn't even notice. Like how impossible it was to have him hug her with an umbrella. Just think about it for a while and you might notice why… I have no idea why stuff like that bugged me, but that is just how it was. It started out weird and then got weirder… Plus there was the whole fact that I was copying down math notes at the same time this was being written… sweat drop. But you will be happy to know that I have the next chapter already written. I'll be dedicating that one to someone else too… so review!!**

**There was also a lot of foreshadowing and such in this chapter. It is probably one of the more important chapters, plot-moving wise… The next one being the most important!**

**I got my hair cut. Just wanted to throw that out there. And Nalanna, sorry for taking so long with answering your message… I know at the top it said that I just checked a message from you… but that was a while ago… I'll get around to it in a while… Promise! **

**Review!**

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	9. New Trouble

__

So I have decided that I am just going to post this. No A/N except for: I'm so sorry! This is the shortest chapter I have ever written! But you will just have to roll with it, seeing as how it has to end the way it does…. This chapter is dedicated to Librarylady (sorry, I didn't spell out your full name, but you know who you are…) Congrats and thanks for reviewing! You are the best! C:

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R E R U N

_no love, no friendship can cross the path of our destiny without leaving some mark on it._

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Starting a new semester at school had always been somewhat of a scary experience. New professors were uncharted territories; the only knowledge of them was gained from others. The schedule that you had grudgingly grown fond of was kicked to the curb, lost and totally forgotten, except in the fleeting instance when you dreamed of having it back. The halls were a mess of scrambling students trying to get to classes of which they weren't entirely sure where they were. Your dignified hustle and bustle was thrown into a disordered chaos as you tried to force yourself through a crowd of a thousand people going the other way.

It was after fighting through such a crowd that Kyo finally made it to his English class. The teacher gave him a stern look as he filed in seconds after the bell rang to start class. She pointed a gnarled finger at him and then at an empty two-seater desk in the back of the room. Kyo bowed slightly and nearly threw his hip out in his scramble towards the empty seat. Behind him, the door slid open, admitting another student.

Kyo propped himself up on his wooden seat just in time to see the gnarled finger pointed his way. Kyo blanched when he realized who the late student had been. Though her hair was longer and she was a bit taller, her cheery eyes and bright smile were the same; Kyo knew right away who the girl was and blanched as Sana Tetsushi sat down beside him.

Kyo had known for a while that Sana had gone to his school and had in fact (somewhat) stalked a look-a-like for a while. Though Kyo had always hoped for a glance of his old friend, he never thought it would actually happen. And now that it finally had happened, Kyo wasn't too pleased with the situation.

Sana had been one of Kyo's during their last year of high school. He had met her, and his other friends, Rei and Tsujiai, through another one of his good friends, Kaji. They were among the group that had traveled with him to celebrate their graduation. Rei had been a major player in planning the whole thing. They had also seen the terrors in the woods that fateful night. And Sana had been the first to be forced to have her memories taken from her.

Sana placed her books on the desk next to Kyo's and pulled our a chair, took a seat, and pulled her books back towards her. Kyo leaned away from her.

The teacher was writing the directions on the board and the class chattered a bit. Sana stuck out her hand and whispered:

"I'm Tetsushi Sana. Nice to meet you."

Kyo ignored her poison hand and grunted out a guttural "Sohma Kyo."

The teacher reigned the class in and they began their lesson

Kyo was all nerves that class. Every slight noise startled him and every move Sana made resulted in Kyo jumping a foot in the air. He had never fully appreciated just how active Sana had been. She was in constant motion and every minute or so she had to rearrange herself.

Though he was jumpy around her, he was curious as to how she was doing and how she was looking. Kyo wanted to look over at her, just to see how much she had changed. He had only had that one second to capture a snapshot of what she looked like. But that time had been filled with surprise and his mental image was being over run by how she had looked when he knew her: She had had shoulder-length brown hair ad bore a remarkable resemblance to Kagura. She always had a bright smile and twinkling eyes, but behind them she was a semi-serious. She was silly person at times and had her odd quierks, but over all, she was usually a reserved person.

Perhaps it was because of his twitchy and overly sensitive temperament, the minutes inched by; the class seemed to go on forever. San seemed enough at ease and even put her head down on her stack of books and hit the sack, or so it appeared. When the teacher finally noticed Sana's closed eyes, she lobbed a question her way. Without lifting her head, san let out a muffled answer.

The class was, Kyo decided, what a fiery inferno would be like, if it weren't fiery, although he wondered how that could be. Though he was jittery and on the edge, he managed to lull himself into a trance so as to ignore the presence of the girl beside him. He was sure that he had missed a question thrown his way and that he was setting a bad first impression for his teacher, but at the moment, his sanity was more important that if some old lady liked him or not.

The ball rang suddenly and Kyo, with his glassy eyes, wasn't prepared at all. He blinked the clouds and scuttled to pick up his books. Sana had already left the room, so Kyo had no need to fear. But as he turned the corner in the hallway outside the class, his spirits dropped when he heard a familiar voice over his shoulder.

"Sohma-kun!" Sana yelled, waving her hand.

Out of habit, Kyo turned, mentally slapping himself as he did so. Sana trotted up behind him and took a place next to his arm.

"Didn't you go to my high school?" She asked, drumming up a conversation.

Despite himself, Kyo felt him self relaxing. This was _Sana _after all, and so far, Hatori's memory job seemed to have held up to the test. Plus, now that he had reason to look down on her, Kyo noticed that she looked the same as always.

"Yeah," Kyo smiled, "I did."

"Ah!" Sana's smile widened. "What are you up to next?"

"What?"

"Do you have anything that you need to do in the next hour?"

"No…"

Sana's smile widened. "Then let's go get ice cream! I love ice cream!"

Kyo had to stop himself from telling her "I know" as she dragged him off to the same ice cream store that they had gone to before. It was same place where Kyo had gone with Yuki and with Tohru. Sana got her usual chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream and Kyo is strawberry. They walked in silence after exiting the shop. It was too crowded in the shop and Sana was content to lick her cone.

They sat down at a bench in a secluded wooded area, the sun shining brightly down on them, setting slightly. After their cones had melted and had gone sliding down their throats, they chatted for a bit, mostly about frivolous, un-needed and unimportant things.

Kyo told her about how he hated getting the mail every morning since he had to stop by the clubhouse every morning and he got stared at by the middle aged lady at the desk. He and Yuki had gotten together and An had challenged them to a food contest. A bit healthy competition never hurt any one, so Kyo set the stakes. If Yuki won the eating contest, he, Kyo would mow Yuki's lawn for four weeks while Yuki sat on the porch and watched. If Kyo won, Yuki would have to bring in Kyo's mail and suffer under the wrath of the desk lady, whom had taken an immediate disliking of Yuki the moment he had stepped into the clubhouse. The battle began and two mouthfuls later, An was watching them, her own food forgotten.

Kyo had won; it was a victory that he smugly reminded Yuki of every chance he got. He also enjoyed missing the desk lady and watching Yuki clamber up the stairs every morning with a handful of letters and the occasional news paper. Kyo was delighted that most of the time Yuki hiked up all the way up the stairs only to watch Kyo throw away half of his hard work as spam.

**Oo0oO**

Soon, Kyo realized just how much homework he had and how much time he had spent with a person he was never supposed to see. Ever, on any accounts.

Kyo stretched his arms over his head in a stretch and yawned. It was only a few hours after mid-day, but he was already tired. He had planned on spending time with Tohru, but it seemed now that that plan was ousted.

"Well," he began. "This has been fun, but I've really got to go. You know, homework."

Sana nodded, suddenly distracted. She didn't seem to notice when Kyo stood up and dusted off his pants. Not quiet knowing how to leave, (what could you say to someone who had forgotten you?) Kyo waved and turned on his heel.

"Wait!" She called after him. Kyo turned. "_Kyo, _there's something I need to tell you."

The sun slanted down in the sky throwing her determined face into shadows as Kyo stood on, completely flabbergasted.

* * *

_Excerpt: She led him like a docile cow over to a wrought iron bench. They sat down and Sana patted his hand comfortingly._

"_I bet you want to know what happened. Huh?" _

* * *

_So… I went to the beach yesterday. Its fun that you can go to the beach here, at the end of September. I found a ton of conch shells. Sorry, but this went into the world completely unedited... I am just too lazy and I needed to get this out before I forgot._


	10. Forgetting the past

_I am very seriously considering not finishing this story. It isn't much fun to write, and aside from a few people, I'm not getting many reviews. I can see why this could be happening, what with it being a sequel and all, but I don't much like writing chapter stories as it is, and when I'm not getting much feed back… It just makes it all that much harder to write. I know it's a bit slow right now, put the pace of the story will quicken. I hate to not finish stories, but right now writing is more of a chore for me than an enjoyable past time. This is something I don't want to happen, especially since I love writing. _

_And now, after an A/N full of self-woe, I present to you: _

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R E R U N

_The existence of forgetting has never been proven: we only know that some things do not come to our minds when we want them to._

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Sana's serious eyes glinted from beneath her furrowed brow. It was a sight that Kyo had seen before: Sana's determined face. The sinking sun threw her features into shadows, but her eyes reflected the light.

The stare down continued, Sana's face slipping into that of appraisal and her scrupulous glare made Kyo feel like wandering home after picking a fight. He lowered his gaze, but still kept his eyes locked on hers.

Kyo's frazzled nerves noticed when Sana picked up her feet, but they didn't react. Slowly her gait became a run, right a him. She was hare and he was the tortoise, his tired brain still trying to figure out what was going on. And why she had called him Kyo… but he didn't have much time to "think." Sana had bridged the short distance between them and was now enveloping Kyo in a huge hug.

To say that he was shocked would be the understatement of the year. They surprise he felt coursing thought his veins was like anesthetic, numbing his already numb brain. It didn't do much for his nerves though; they were still jumbled up, thinking the sky was chartreuse and wondering why he was so confused.

"Ah!" Sana pouted as she stepped away from Kyo's stiff form. "I guess you don't turn into a cat anymore… "

To say that Kyo was merely shocked after Sana's latest proclamation would be like saying that sharks ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and the bread doesn't go soggy.

"You- You-" Kyo started twice and never finished.

" –'you remember me?' of course!" Sana smiled up (way up) at him. "Kyo—don't think I could forget you that easily."

She led him like a docile cow over to a wrought iron bench. They sat down and Sana patted his hand comfortingly.

"I bet you want to know what happened, huh," Sana stated in a no nonsense tome, but with a gentle face.

"That would be nice," he croaked out, completing his look of an old man with to many cats with such a throaty warble as that.

Sana smiled and began.

"I came home after being at Kaji's lake house and I felt kind of sick. My parents were a little careful around me, like I was about to break. I was in a foul mood because of their babying and my stomach ache. The house felt empty too. So to make myself feel better, I shut myself up in my room. I had to escape the stifling air downstairs. And plus, who do you now that want to be sick during the summer?"

She smiled, but then her face fell.

"As I laid there on my bed, I got to thinking and I realized that I couldn't really remember what had happened the night before."

Kyo swallowed. That night had been a living nightmare.

"So I snagged my journal, hoping that I had written something—anything—that would help me remember. I found myself rabid, wanting to know what had happened. Usually I wouldn't have been so insistent about it, but there was nothing else to do. And when I had walked into my house, I suddenly felt… empty: like I was missing something.

"But when I opened my journal, there it was: a big photo that Hatori-kun had taken. All of us were there. I recognized your face. I remembered going to the mountain house and taking the picture, but I didn't know why you were in it."

Sana's eyebrows scrunched together, trying to remember what happened next.

"I was confused. 'Why would I paste a picture full of people I don't know into my journal?' I had asked myself. So I flipped my journal open to the first page and I read. I read and read, drinking in all the "new" information like I was a woman who hadn't drunk for a week. It was so foreign to me. I remembered writing the entries, but when ever a memory of you came up, it was like another person had taken my body and had the experience."

Sana sighed.

"But when it hit the part about after they play, it suddenly clicked."

Sana's eyes suddenly swam with tears, thinking back on past emotions.

"It was a terrible feeling. A sudden wave of knowledge. The knowledge that one of your best friends was dead and you had seen him fall. You had stood in front of him, blocking him from the path of the mad man that was coming, along with countless others. You were so united for a while, all with one common purpose: Save Kyo-kun. But then the electric shock came and your knees buckled and all you could see was black, only to wake up moments later, unable to move. And you watch the mad man move forward and touch his query: your friend. And then, he falls."

She sniffed. "My first memory after I remembered what of you lying face down in that muddy water, not breathing."

Kyo felt for her, but he had come numb to the memory. Plus, he had been out cold for the duration of most of what she had commented on, so he had nothing to add.

"But the worst thing was… the thing that made me hurt the worst… was that I actually let it happen. My forgetting you I mean. It felt like I had disgraced you and your memory, who I my mind, was dead, by forgetting."

Sana smiled a bit.

"In a way, I'm a sadist toward myself. I forced myself to remember, to make up for the few days that I had forgotten.

"I talked to Rei, Tsujiai and" –Sana added darkly—"Kaji. They seemed not to remember. Through my amazing skills of deduction, I came to the conclusion that I was supposed to have forgotten you."

They sat there for a while. By the time, the sun had lower in the sky and behind a curtain of tangerine clouds.

"So I'll take my cat back now." Sana sniffed out of the blue.

Kyo sat there, stock still, for a few minutes then laughed shakily. "Well… there's a problem... see, I gave your cat away…"

Sana glared at him and he squirmed under her stare. Then she laughed.

"Don't worry. I was just giving you a hard time. Just as long as AZ is happy and in a good home."

"She is," Kyo reassured her, thinking of An and Machi.

Kyo leaned back on the bench and put his hands behind his head.

"So, what's everyone else up to?" Kyo asked.

"Well, Rei and Tsujiai are getting married," Sana grinned. "They managed to keep up a long distance relationship."

"They were together?" Kyo asked.

"Yeah, shocker, huh? I thought they were both too immature to have feelings besides goofiness." Sana shook her head. "Actually, if you think about it, it was kind of obvious."

Kyo thought and nodded.

"Is Tsujiai still in Korea?"

"Yes." Sana nodded. "He proposed via text message from his locker room after practice. I don't thing it's all that romantic, but Rei loved it."

Kyo's face broke into a smile. 'That seems like her."

Sana grinned in agreement.

"And what about Kaji?" Kyo asked after a while of silence.

Sana's continence darkened. "He has a girlfriend and a good job, but that's all I know. We had a bit of a… falling out."

This shocked Kyo and it showed on his face. During their high school career, Sana and Kaji had been buddy-buddy. It couldn't have been some minor disagreement that had torn the rift in their golden friendship.

"What happened?" Kyo choked our after a few seconds of flapping his mouth like a fish.

"It needn't be any of your concern." Sana answered in a voice that told Kyo that that strand of conversation had finished.

Sana stood up quickly and clasped her hands behind her back.

"I'd best be going. You know: homework and all…" She winked, using his words against him.

He stood, fatigue suddenly creeping up on him. She gave him a hug and a pat on the back. Standing up on tiptoes, she whispered into his ear.

"Don't delve too deeply into Tohru's fiancé problem, okay? For your own good, I would just be content with what you've got now."

Laughing at his shocked face, Sana winked again and tapped her temple. "I'm not any smarter than you take me for. You're just the type of person who doesn't give up on anything when you've found something that you love."

She turned on her heel and stared walking slowly toward the road.

"You know Kyo. I get the feeling that Hatori-san didn't really want me to forget." She turned to look back at him. "If he wanted me to forget, do you really think that he would let me keep all those memories stored up in my journal? How could I have remembered so easily, if only for the fact that Hatori-san wanted me to remember?"

* * *

_Excerpt:_

_Kyo sniffed a long, drawn out sniff. It was amazing that his nose could be so clogged, but still run so much. It was amazing that he could sniff at all after his long rainy night spent with Tohru._

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_And there you have it. I hope you liked it. Man, I sound so bitter. I don't mean to!_

_I didn't like this chapter a bit. It was a necessary chapter, but I can see how people get bored of my stories with chapters like this._

_I now have a schedule for updating, so I should be more consistent. My life is a hectic mess right now, what with swim practice, (wish me luck… grrrrrr) three core classes and an AP class not to mention all the babysitting and volunteer hours… my life is a mess, but I love it! I'll try to update regularly (Usually Saturday or Sunday night) but I'm not making any promises. I feel bad for making you wait only to be disappointed with a sucky chapter…_

_Review._


	11. In trouble :C

A/N:

I am sorry to announce that I will be discontinuing this story. At the current time, my schedule is full, and doesn't allow much time for frequent updates. As of now, I do not have a single evening open and I would much rather spend my weekends in some way other than typing and writing.

Its not that writing is torture me; it's this story. I was excited at first, but now it is just a monotonous task that I dread all week long. The story line, I have come to realize, was slow, and not something I enjoy writing. A main character, Tohru, is hardly seen and she is instead replaced by dozens of OCs, none of which you would understand if you hadn't read Kyo's New Obsession. I was hoping this story could be sort of a stand alone, but it turned out that it relied heavily on a confusing prequel. Along with not enjoying the story, I wasn't getting as many reviews. If I stand in your shoes, I can see why. The plot has dried up.

That being said, I would like to thank _LibraryLady _(Again, I shortened your name…) _Nalanna, Gurgy, Reading Your Writing PinkLikeCool, _and P_armesan Cheese _for their constant support and faithful reviewing! I'm thinking that I'm going to reward you with telling you a huge secret: Tohru's fiancé! Are you excited? I bet you will be! (don't pay me any heed…) But, yes, I will tell you who Tohru's fiancé is.

I am thinking of extending this offer to everyone who reviews every chapter. Hey, I might as well milk all the reviews I can, plus, I don't want you to go without.

Actually, here is the final deal: _Anyone who reviews **all** the chapters (even with just one word...) will be given the low down of what happens in the story_. Through review (or email if you don't have an account) I will send you an outline of how the story ends and who Tohru's fiancé is. The fore mentioned people don't have to. You get off free. All you got to do is review this chapter, cuz I'm to lazy to find all o' your names.

But since I still won't be satisfied until this series (if you can call it that) is complete, there's one more thing I'm going to do for ya'll. Sometime later on this week, I'll post an alternate ending to **K**yo's **N**ew **O**bsession. So be on the look out for that alternate ending. I still have yet to write it, but hopefully it will make up for the lameness that was this story and the disappointing ending that **KNO** had. With any luck, it will appease you. Remember, it will be a SEPARATE story, not on this story. Just click on my name up at the top of this page and you'll get to my main page. Go to my stories and you should find it.

I am also regretfully announcing that I'm not likely to write anymore Fruits Basket stories… I seem to do a number on them that ruins the series for me… Unless I have some fabulous idea, or it is a one shot, I'm not likely to be in the Furuba universe anymore… TT.TT I know you will all miss me terribly. (I am so presumptions…)

Now I must leave you, for I am watching stupid videos on youtube. Monty python is amazing my amigos. :heart, heart, heart!:

Love you all and thanks for being such great reviewers! I'll try to get that ending up before the decade ends.

Yours,

Have Socks. Will Travel.

PS we have a witch may we burn her? Bring out the holy hand grenade. Bless it that it may blow thine enemies to little bits. (Monty Python is the best! )


	12. To Those it may Concern

To those it may concern:

Hello my fellow FF. netters! If you are reading this, it means that you haven't given up on me, even if my recent activity has dwindled down to nothing.

I would just like to alert you that I am taking into serious consideration re-continuing this story. I am finished with my AP class and life seems to have taken a turn for the more relaxing.

I am, however, starting new classes as of Wednesday and since they are all core classes (Biology, Earth Science, Latin and Algebra II) my schedule may fill up again.

Why am I telling you this you may ask? I am just wondering how many of you out there are still willing to read this story? I know the plot line has been slow and the OCs numerous, but I have a plan that will shorten it down by quite a bit. The plot line will start back up in the next chapter if I do post it.

If you are willing to read this story, please tell me and I will consider starting up again. I still don't know what my life will hold and my summer has the possibility of being taken up, but I will see if I can do it. I hate to leave a story unfinished and I think that this story has possible potential to be good, even with the slow start.

If there seems to be no real liking I will leave it and there will be no hard feelings. Untill the time comes that I make my choice, I'll work on rewriting some of the chapters I find lacking! Even if the story sucks, my writing will get better!

Yours,

Have Socks. Will Travel.


	13. The Art of Remembrance

__

I am back and I am ready to rumble! I bet ya'll are so happy that I decided to finish this story. –wink, wink- I was reading back over it and was realizing that I was stressing way too much over little things. Seeing as how I just started new classes, I don't know how my updating schedule is going to work out, but I've decided that I need a hobby, this story needed finishing, so I decided to go for it.

_Unfortunately, I lost the story plans, so while I remember __**how**__ I got to the end I don't remember what was going to happen at the end. –Laugh- that's just like me…_

_Disclaimer: If I owned Fruits Basket, it never would have been finished…_

* * *

R E R U N

_To love is to find pleasure in the happiness of the one loved

* * *

_

Kyo sniffed a long, drawn out sniff. It was amazing that his nose could be so clogged, but still run so much at the same time. It was amazing that he could sniff at all, after his long rainy day spent with Tohru. He held up a tissue to his red, puffy nose, let out a feeble, half attempt and blowing his nose, but, giving up that as a bad job, he opted to wipe his nose.

Still, all the sickness had been worth it. His day spent with Tohru had been on of the better of his life. It had been simple, but happy; spontaneous and highly uncomfortable, but enjoyable nonetheless.

_**Flashback**  
_

_The two were standing under the covered bus stop, twin dripping umbrellas laying wet and drying at their feet. The rain, which had kept up for weeks, was threatening to turn Japan, the island country, into less of an island country and more of a swampy wasteland. It was hard to imagine those mere weeks ago when the earth had been parched and thirsty. It seemed to have drunk its fill however and couldn't take in anymore. Still, the rain continued to fall._

_"If the rain keeps up like this," Tohru commented, looking over the muddy field on the other side of the rain bogged road, "They're going to have to stop the busses… that can't be good, can it?"_

_She glanced up at him; her bright eyes held a questioning look and Kyo felt himself squirm in his shoes._

"_Yeah, that's right," Kyo answered, looking back over the flooded road. "I can hardly walk anywhere now without my feet getting completely soaked. A few more inches in low lying places and cars won't be able to get through…"_

_"Yeah…" Tohru thought out loud. She looked like she was contemplating something off in the distance as her eyes continued to drift off out into the rain filled horizon. They stood in silence for a while, comfortable enough with one another to let the rain do the talking._

_"Is that way America?" She asked after a while, pointing out across the field in front of them and through the drizzle._

_Kyo thought for a moment, mentally positioning himself on a world map, then nodded. "Yup, that way and across the ocean and you'd be in America."_

_Tohru sighed happily and snuggled down into her pink pompom scarf. "He's so far away. But just knowing where he is… somehow I feel closer to him."_

_Kyo was puzzled for a few seconds, but mentally slapped himself when he remembered. She was talking about her fiancé, who was supposed to be in America. "He's a long ways away, kiddo." He said, reaching out to ruffle her hair. But his hand passed through the air as Tohru stepped off the concrete slab that was the bus stop and into the rain. She turned back to Kyo smiling._

_"Now I'm one step closer to him." Tohru told him._

"_But you're one step farther away from me." Kyo frowned._

_Tohru frowned as well, but then her brilliant smile beamed up at him again. "You'll just have to chase me then." She trotted back over to him and tapped him on the arm. "Tag, you're it."_

_"It's raining." He pointed out as she sprinted off._

_"And I'm getting farther away!" She yelled back, giggling._

_Kyo sighed and laughed. Of course she would want to play tag in the rain. Leaving the safety of the covered bus stop, Kyo put a foot out into the rain and ran after her. The pink and navy umbrellas rolled closer together in a slight breeze. They could always come back for them later._

_End flashback_

**_Oo0oO_**

The next day found Kyo propped up in a padded chair in Hatori's office, waiting for the doctor to come in and assess the measure of his sickness. Kyo spun around on the doctor's chair, for lack of something more productive to do; Hatori's office wasn't furbished with outdated magazines stacked sky-high like most offices. Only Sohma's came to see Hatori and any complaint about lack of entertainment would be met with a steely eye and noncommittal grunt. Complain all you wanted: nothing was going to change.A door was shut and Kyo brought the chair around to face the severe man who had just entered. Hatori waved his hand, a gesture Kyo took to mean "get out of my seat" and he shifted to one of the more stationary wood chairs along the back wall.

Hatori took a seat in his chair. He rolled over to his desk, dropped the clipboard and keys he had in his hand, and then rolled over to Kyo. He took out his stethoscope, placed his thin glasses on his nose and proceeded with the normal doctor customs.

"I haven't seen you here for a while," Hatori told him, checking in Kyo's ear. "Keeping out of trouble?"

"Sort of…" Kyo admitted. What he was doing was against the rules, but so far it hadn't caused any sort of problem for the Sohma estate; Momiji, Rin and Haru had done a good job of keeping things hush-hush, though they were constantly bugging him, wanting to see Tohru.

"Well, keep on doing what ever you've been doing. I've finally got some rest." He stuck the thermometer in Kyo's ear and waited for the machine to beep. When it did, he looked at it.

"You have a slight fever is all. Bed rest will get it cleared up in a few days." Hatori rolled back over to his desk and noted Kyo's illness on his clipboard. "If you don't mind me asking, what exactly were you up to that caused you to get sick."

Hatori looked over his glasses, pen still in hand.

_"_Oh," Kyo said, slightly taken aback that he had a question shot his way. "I was… out in the rain for a while yesterday." He sniffed. Noses were good for nothing. Except breathing.

Hatori gave a vague mumble and went back to his clipboard. Heart rate: 54, temperature: 101… "Um… Hatori, I have a question." Kyo said after a few moments of silence.

Hatori looked up from his clipboard. "Yes?"

Kyo looked around, uncomfortable and unwilling to ask his question. The sound of the clock's ticking filled the room.

"Yes?" Hatori asked again_._

"What were to happen if a person remembered, even after you made them forget? This is all hypothetical of course." Kyo held up a halting hand as if warding off the perplexing looks Hatori was sending his way.

Hatori, for his part, leaned back in the chair, stretched his hands over his head, and yawned. Taking off his glasses and rubbing his eyes with the other hand, Kyo spotted some of the weariness that used to emit off of him back before the whole fiasco.

Resting the glasses back on his nose, he studied Kyo for a few seconds before asking, "I take it you ran into someone."

Kyo shook his head, but at the look of disbelief on Hatori's face, his shake slowly turned into a nod.

"If I may venture a guess, I would say that you ran into Tetsushi-san," Hatori asked, looking over the wire rims of his glasses.

Kyo looked uncomfortable as he nodded.

Hatori turned back to his papers. "Well, if she's remembered, there's not much we can do much about that. If she doesn't seem to have any relapses and promises not to tell anyone else, I don't see a problem. If you remember, I let Hanajima-san keep her memories."

Kyo kept nodding; he did remember that particular bit of information.

"And before you get any ridiculous ideas of going back and finding Honda-san, please give them up as unwise. While the others were just a matter of procedure and had to be wiped, Tohru is the only one that really needs to be kept in the dark. You know what would happen if she was to remember."

Kyo bobbed his head again. The idea had occurred to him, but he had put it off as a bad idea. It would have been harmful to both him and Tohru if she were to remember everything.

"Hatori… Sana said something kind of funny when I was talking to her."

_"_Oh, and that would be?" Hatori asked, his back turned to the orange haired boy. He was back, bent over his papers.

"She said that it seemed like you didn't really want her to forget. And I agree: you would have tried a lot harder to hide everything if you really wanted her to forget."

"Like I said; Honda-san was the only one that really needed to forget. Everyone else was just business as normal." Hatori said from his papers. He signed the bottom of a paper with a flourish then stood up. He looked a bit surprised that Kyo was still there. "Well, be off. There's a lot I need to do."

"When you say business what do you mean by that?" Kyo asked.

"They found out about the curse. And as is standard practice, I had to clear the memories of all involved. I had to wipe all memories of the Sohma's from their memories."

"But at the time, the curse had been broken. Why did you still have to do that?"

Here Hatori gave a rare smile. "Rules are binding things. Even though the curse was broken, people still found out about our little secret and I was bound to wipe their memories. Amusing, isn't it."

"Yeah…" Kyo grinned. "But I guess telling my old friends and trying to get them to remember is out of the question?"

"That would be correct." Hatori said as he stood. "Forcing the issue would make the problem worse. Keep tight until they happen to remember. Until then, be happy with the fact that the memories aren't lost. You still have them, so they aren't totally forgotten."

Hatori knocked him on the head, the most playful he had ever been, and turned to walk out of the room.

"Hatori?" Kyo called out.

Hatori stopped and looked back at Kyo.

"Thanks."

_

* * *

_

_Excerpt: _

_His continence was squirmy and apprehensive, though Kyo could hardly blame the kid. If Kyo was in the same position after so long, Kyo was sure his stature would have been the same way._

_And then, suddenly, there she was_

_"Tohru!" Momiji called out, rushing up to the girl and enveloping her in a hug._

_

* * *

_

_Hopefully this was a satisfactory chapter after so long without a chapter. ^^! I feel really bad for making you hang for so long. _

_This chapter, actually, was important to the plot progression and it kinda explained why Sana was able to remember Kyo. I feel like Hatori was kind of given the place of a bad guy for erasing the memories. Hopefully this shows that, even though on the exterior Hatori is stern looking, he actually looks out for Kyo and wants him to be happy._

_Anyway, leave me a review and tell me how I did. It's been a while since I wrote Furuba and it's kinda hard to get back into the habit! Try to predict what will happen! Those are always fun to read too!_

_And thanks to my good buddy Nalanna for catching all of the mistakes that seemed to have happened when i transfered it over. If yous see any weir formating, please tell me. My computer doesn't like me..._

_Reviews, please?_


	14. Three Greet

_First off, I would like to complain about the stupid formatting in the last chapter. I had more problems than I would actually like to have. Grrrr… Sometimes (all the time) my computer likes to torture me. Please tell me if you spot any problems in this chapter. I think I have them all worked out, but then again, you know how these things go!_

_Anyway, I hope it will go better this time. It already seems to be working out better! Enjoy or as the Estonians say: "Nautima" (No, I don't speak Estonian)_

_

* * *

_

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R E R U N

_It takes one person to forgive; it takes two people to reunite  
_

_

* * *

_

A pounding noise woke Kyo the next morning. At first, the _thump thump_ on the wood was peaceful and lulled Kyo back into a deeper sleep. But soon, through his droopy half conscious mind, he came to the realization that the noise that he persistently kept hearing was some person at his door. The repetitive noise grew more and more insistent and with a huff, Kyo threw back his sheets and tumbled out dispiritedly out of his pillow topped heaven.

Stumbling past his long-broken washing machine and heaps of clean and dirty laundry, Kyo made his way to his white front door, where, fumbling in a half-daze with the locks, he managed to pull the door open. Waiting for him on the other side was Yuki, whose impassive face was marked with a clear look of annoyance. Yuki's irritated foot was on in full force as it _tap tap tapped _on the carpet outside.

For a few minutes—a few seconds really—Kyo's sleep addled brain wondered why the head of the Sohma Clan was standing outside of his door at such an hour in the morning. It all became clear, however, when Yuki shoved a handful of mail into Kyo's empty hand. Kyo smiled sheepishly at Yuki, whose irritated half smirk still hadn't vanished, as he held up the mail.

"Thanks for that. I think you only have a few more weeks of dealing with the cranky front desk lady." Kyo told Yuki.

Yuki, after loosing a bet, had been placed in charge of retrieving Kyo's mail every morning. It was a chore that Kyo desisted and had been more than willing to place in Yuki's less than willing hands. The lady that worked at the desk across from the communal mailboxes had a thing against Yuki and it was clear with the nasty looks she shot him every morning.

"No!" Yuki answered back, clearly sarcastic. "I enjoy the glares that I get every morning and the chance to rifle through your mail. It's especially entertaining when I get stuck outside your door for a good ten minutes. Aren't you usually up by this time?"

He shot Kyo a quizzical look.

Kyo cringed. "I'm a bit under the weather."

As if to punctuate his last sentence, Kyo sniffed then coughed.

"Ah," Yuki intoned, raising a delicate eyebrow. "Well, feel better than. And expect me tomorrow, please. I don't have time to be standing at your doorstep every morning."

Kyo nodded once, puzzled by Yuki's irritable mood. "Right… Have a good day… doing what ever you're doing."

Yuki's face twisted into a rye smile. "Right." And with that, he spun on his heel and was gone.

Kyo shut the door after Yuki was down the stairs. He leaned back on the slick surface and slid slowly to the ground, a hand rubbing his eyes. Even after three years of relative peace, it was still hard for Kyo to get used to the fact that Yuki and himself could actually talk civilly. That was about as far as they had gotten though; there hadn't been a deep bonding like there had been with Haru and Kyo. Kyo still wasn't sure what Yuki did for a living besides run the Sohma house. Sure, Kyo put on a good face for Machi and An, whom he actually had somewhat of an attachment to, but that was deep as their connection went. Too many years of hating a person could leave lasting scars that ran too deep.

Kyo looked down at the mail in his hand, scoffed and threw it off to the side. Most of it was junk mail anyway. _Bah._

There was a knock at the door and Kyo jumped. After his heart stopped racing he stood back up, and scooted the cluttered pile of mail under the chair in an effort to tidy up for the guests; it was a lost cause, however, as he looked around the room. There were still mountains of clothing scattered across every surface area available. Sighing, he pulled the door open again for the second time that morning.

Standing outside was the ever cheerful Misa. Kyo had long ago gotten to the point of helping Misa with her school project and she had successfully completed high school. She was attending TU with Kyo and, since she was taking Police classes like he was, he sometimes saw her around the campus. Actually, it wasn't hard to miss her, what with the two hulking body guards that constantly trailed her.

"Hiya Kyo!" She greeted him with a wink.

Kyo smiled and winked back. Misa was like Tohru; she instantly made everything better (when she wasn't the root of the problem.) They had long since abandoned all forms of veneration towards each other and had opted for the more familiar approach. After living next to her and her family for so long, it was only natural for him to do so.

"Hiya Misa." He shot back.

She laughed and leaned against the wall next to his door.

"I hadn't seen you in a while so I thought I'd show up and tell ya hi! But now I really gotta be going." She winked again and waved. Her cheerful face fell, however, as Kyo waved only to be interrupted in the middle of his goodbye with a coughing attack. She turned back to him with a concerned look on her face.

"Kyo, are you okay?" She asked, approaching him cautiously. She couldn't afford to get sick, as she was booked to speak about her father (an important government official,) but she was still concerned about her friend's well being.

Kyo held up a hand as he finished coughing.

"Don't worry," He told her after he had finished. "I just stayed in the rain for too long a few days ago. It's nothing particularly bad."

"Ah, caught the sniffles have we? Bummer."

Kyo nodded as he wiped his mouth. "Yeah, and tonight was an important night too…"

"Oh?" Misa asked, a question in her tone.

"Yeah, Tohru was going to come over. I was going to introduce her to some of my family…"

"Oh Kyo!" Misa teased, elbowing him in the ribs. "Introducing her to the family? Do I hear wedding bells?"

Kyo grunted then shook his head. "No, it's not like that at all. She has a fiancé; my family is just… really _curious_ about her."

Misa stopped her elbowing and stared up at him. "Since when has Tohru had a fiancé?"

"Since when have you called her _Tohru_?" Kyo shot back, stressing the lack of proper ending.

"Since you have," She answered smartly.

"Highly doubtful…"

"What ever," Misa waved her hand, dismissing the whole conversation. "Regardless of your sickness, I still think you should have your family over. It would very ungentlemanly of you to cancel at the last minute."

"Yeah, I came to that conclusion myself, thanks" Kyo grunted.

"Good. Any way, I'll pop by later to see if you need help getting to the hospital. Ja!"

And with that, she left a very confused and slightly befuddled Kyo standing on his welcome mat.

**Oo0oO**

Sighing, Kyo glanced around his chaotic house. It hadn't ever been in a worse condition, and that was saying a lot. Granted, he had been sick for the last few days, but that was hardly a liable excuse for the mess before him. It was as if a combination of a hurricane, a tornado and a train had smacked into every available surface in the house. Clothes were flung haphazardly over the arms of chairs and scattered over the floor grouped in little huddles. Dirty dishes over piled the sink and oozed onto the limited counter space Kyo's kitchen offered. The rubbish bit was an unsightly mess and it appeared that Kazuki had been into it, as well as the four boxes of crayons Kyo kept stored for An's visits.

All in all, he had his work cut out for him. His house was the most formidable opponent yet in Kyo's short years on the earth. He beat it once, only to have it strike back with vengeance later and with a greater force.

_Elbow grease is the only way to go, _Kyo sniffed. He got to his knees and started picking up the scattered crayons.

**Oo0oO**

A few hours later and the job was close to finished. The plates sat gleaming in a dryer rack as the dishwasher seemed to have given out some time in the past. This was a fact which disconcerted him a bit. It had been so long since Kyo had done dishes that he hadn't noticed when it had finally kicked the bucket.

As he was placing the final dish in the rack, the doorbell rang. Kyo looked down at himself: he was a disheveled mess but he couldn't do anything about that at the moment. Meandering slowly over to the door, he opened it to be greeted by Momiji's happy bouncing face.

"Kyo!" Momiji cheered, pushing his way into the apartment. "Thank you so much! You have no idea how much this means to me!!!"

Behind him, Haru filtered in as well, a much less jovial look on his face. Rather, a slightly confused frown played on the boy's handsome features.

"I have no idea why he's dragging me along…" Haru told Kyo, pointing to the bouncing boy.

"He didn't tell you?" Kyo asked, an exasperated tone emerging. "I have someone for you to meet. We're gonna meet her at the park later on. Where's Rin? I asked Momiji to invite her as well…"

"She's outside right now… she didn't want to come into your apartment… something about unsanitary."

"Well, for once she's got it right…" Kyo laughed, glancing around at the much improved living conditions. They may have improved, but they were still in a sorry state.

"Look, I know it's impolite of me to ask, but could the two of you tidy up while I take a shower? I've been cleaning all day and I don't want to go around smelling really bad…"

"Go right ahead Kyo!" Momiji seemed to have caught a wiff of Kyo. He pushed him toward the bathroom door. "You leave cleaning to me and Haru!"

**Oo0oO**

After a much refreshing shower, Kyo, Haru and Momiji were out of the newly cleaned house and headed in the direction of the house. Rin, who had been sitting on the bench outside of the complex sketching in her sketch pad, joined them in their hike, a slightly disgruntled look apparent on her face. It was plain to see that Momiji hadn't told her of the excitement to come.

They were soon to the kiddie park in Kyo's neighborhood and it had started to drizzle slightly. Rin's frown deepened. Seeing this, Haru took of his jacket and lent it to her to keep dry. Everyone else seemed to have the sense to wear appropriate clothing for the weather.

Despite the weather, people transversed back and forth from along the trail that the park was situated next to. At all times there was at least one person walking on the cement path and at every person, Momiji jumped about a foot in the air.

After about the tenth jump, Rin growled and turned to Kyo.

"Can you please tell us why you've dragged us all down here? Cuz apparently Rabbit boy is not going to tell us any time soon."

Rin glared daggers at him and Kyo slunk back.

"Okay!" He held up his hands in protest. "I was planning on telling you soon anyway! I just never got around to it."

"Quit beating around the bush and spill."

"I wasn't beating around the bush."

Rin gave him a pointed look and Kyo shrunk back.

"Okay! I dragged you all out here because I have someone I want you to see."

"You dragged us all out here to meet your new girl friend?" Rin glared even deeper. She stood up and scoffed. "Thanks Kyo, but I'm really not interested."

"No!" Kyo insisted. "I swear, you'll—"

But at that moment Momiji hopped up for the last time.

"It's her!!!" He yelled and he pitched forward in a sprint.

This caught Rin's attention. Her eyes widened and she looked questioningly back at Kyo. "It couldn't be!" She insisted.

Kyo nodded gravely. "It is."

From up the path Haru, Kyo and Rin turned to see Momiji run head long into the brown haired girl that was walking determinately towards the small group.

"Tohru!!!" Momiji squealed. The squeal was loud enough to wake the dead.

* * *

_Excerpt:_

"_Tohru," Kyo asked as they stood at the end of the slide. Momiji's shouts of delight drowned out the pitter patter of the rain around them._

"_Yes?" She tilted her head to the side to look at him more clearly._

_He sighed and repeated the question he had asked her all those months ago. "How did you know you were in love with your fiancé?"_

_God so help him she didn't answer the same as she did before. _

* * *

**Okay, if that chapter was a little confusing, I apologize. For those of you who don't remember, Kyo had told some of the Sohmas about his remeeting Tohru. It turns out that the people he told were Haru, Rin and Momiji. Those people were the most likely to keep a secret, not only from the other Sohmas, but from Tohru as well.**

**As a side note: My friends and I had an interesting conversation at lunch today. Apparently, according to my friends, the anime characters that I am most like are these:**

**Female: Hikari, from Special A: For my smarts but also my total klutziness, my permanent second tier place to the Gilespie family ( or so he seems to think…. Grrr so he's seventh in the class! He hasn't taken any AP classes… Sorry, it's a bit of a sore topic for me,) and my unobservant-ness.**

**Male: Haru, from Fruits Basket: for my "split personality" (I'm quiet in class but obnoxious any other place,) my weirdness and my denseness.**

**Don't I have such loving friends? They pick out my worst qualities and personify for them for me. *Sniffle* ;)**


	15. Running on Normal

_Believe it or not, this story is really close to its finish… I won't say that I had the best time writing this, but once I picked it up with no obligations, I find that I've found myself falling more and more into the habit. The strangeness of the world…_

_Oh well._

_This chapter sites back to chapter 8, so you may want to read that part to avoid confusion… I'll try to make it as clear as I can, but there's only so much I can do…_

_Oh! Many of you commented on Momiji's spastic-ness in the last chapter; I'll tell you that it doesn't go away until a while into this chapter. I know it would seem like he would have calmed down with age (he has) but considering the circumstances, I thought that over-active would suit him the best. Cuz c'mon: it's not every day that you get to meet Tohru again. C; _

**Flash backs** are in italics_. _

* * *

R E R U N

_Perhaps a great Love is never returned_

* * *

**(Make sure to read the AN. It is important!!!!)**

Through the light drizzle and the fading evening light, Kyo could just make out the approaching figure of Tohru before it was blocked out by the tall figure of Momiji. Momiji, now a good head taller than Tohru, picked the tiny girl up and spun her around. Not a word escaped her mouth and Kyo could nearly imagine the blank look in her wide eyes. It wasn't often that a complete stranger came running up to you, screaming your name only to pick you up and spin you around. Kyo laughed when he thought what must have been running through Tohru's brain, but stopped the moment it started. It was actually kind of sad. Momiji, besides his height, hadn't changed; Tohru had simply forgotten that he _wasn't_ a stranger.

Kyo paced toward the madly giggling Momiji and the now protesting Tohru, glancing behind him to see if Haru and Rin had followed him. They, however, appeared too stunned to have registered any movement or to consider moving themselves. They seemed glued in their tracks, a deer-in-the-headlights sort of look permanently etched on their faces as they watched, with a somewhat morbid fascination, as Momiji set Tohru down and begin to explain who he was. Kyo could understand their confusion; Momiji had known what was coming, where as the two had been completely in the dark.

A slightly frazzled Tohru and a beaming Momiji met Kyo at the half way point and Momiji handed Tohru off to the orange haired man. She gripped his arm, clutching the folds of his shirt with a maniacal fist, and panted slightly.

"You have a very active family," she told him, staring up at him, her blue eyes swimming with tears. The tears weren't from fright or sadness; more from the fact that she had just went through the trying ordeal of being spun around in circles for a good thirty seconds.

It appeared that Momiji had introduced himself as a family member. What ever the case, Tohru seemed to have connected the pieces and tagged the one smiling boy and the two crazies staring blankly at her to be Kyo's relations.

"Yeah," Kyo laughed sheepishly. "I've had to live with them all of my life, so I guess I've kind of forgotten—been desensitized to— their craziness…"

Tohru blinked up and him and then nodded her full agreement.

Haru and Rin were still standing in the same positions that they had been when Tohru had first appeared. Their slack jaw and unbelieving eyes—still in place—had been humorous at first, but now, to Kyo, the looks were just irritating.

As he and Tohru walked back toward the two with a chirpy Momiji dogging their heels, Kyo snapped Haru and his girlfriend back into attention.

"C'mon you guys!" He warned. "It's not like she's a ghost or something. Come say hello!"

He shot them a look that clearly said, _you've never seen her, remember? Act naturally! _Haru blinked and shook his head, as if the movement would dislodge the sticking sensation his eyes had gone through. Rin, who had still been a bit more taken aback by the whole ordeal, took a great deal longer to react, and by the time she had cleared her head, Haru had already trotted over and was bowing to the befuddled Tohru.

"Ah, it's you! Nice to meet you!" Haru said, approaching Tohru with a bow. "I'm Hatsuharu Sohma, Kyo's cousin."

"Ah! Ah! You too! You too! Nice to meet you!" Tohru chattered as she bowed frantically back. "I've heard so much about you from Kyo!"

"As have I," Haru answered back. He tilted his head to the side, causing his still white hair to fall over his eyes. His eyes had landed on the large platinum engagement ring that was flashing in the late evening sun. "And may I say that the ring on your finger is fantastic?"

He shot Kyo a questioning look, but Kyo shook his head wordlessly.

Tohru blushed and started fidgeting with the diamond, turning it around and around on her slim finger. "Why thank you. I-I think it's nice too! Sometimes I'm afraid I will loose it, but my fiancé assures me that it will be fine."

Haru raised a thin eyebrow and asked, "And who is this fiancé of—"

But he was cut off by Rin, who had finally come out of the shock of seeing the last person on earth that she had been expecting to see, and had shot off a question of her own. "Wait!? You're getting married?!"

She looked wildly between Kyo and Tohru, as if expecting Kyo to jump in and say "Surprise!!!" but upon no such thing happening, her gaze settled back on Tohru. Tohru—slightly confused with so much noise happening all at once—eventually answered Rin's question, appearing not to have heard Haru's.

"W-Why yes! He's in America now, for school, but he'll be back soon and then we'll be married." Tohru blushed an even darker color red and Kyo, fearing that they had treaded too far into murky waters, opted to steer the conversation toward safer ground.

"Well, are we going to stand here talking all night, or do you want to do something?" Kyo cut in. He shuffled his feet and looked pointedly at every member of the party.

"I don't know," Momiji shrugged. "What does everyone want to do?"

Everyone voiced their ideas, with the exception of Rin, whose eyes hadn't left the sparkling gemstone one Tohru's finger. As it turned out, all the suggested ideas were shot down, as the issue arose that no one had thought to bring money. When Tohru offered to pay, three male voices all rose up at once, turning the idea down in a blink of an eye. When the list of ideas had been exhausted, the four—five, but the last wasn't contributing as much—stared blankly around, as if the scenery would give them some idea of how to spend the historic night.

"Well, we _are_ by a park," Momiji proffered. "And that's always free."

"Correction- I pay the rent." Kyo objected, but no one heard him over Haru's agreement.

"Sounds good to me!"

For the first time in a while, Rin tore her eyes from the dazzling jewel and spoke up. "In the rain? I think not!"

In response to her outburst, Haru reached over and pulled the hood of her over her head. "Problem solved!"

"Hurray!" Momiji cheered, and he zoomed off toward the park. "I challenge you to an obstacle course!"

Rin sighed, but when she looked up at Haru's genuinely happy face, she let a guilty smile shine through. Kyo chuckled a bit inside; for a girl who didn't like anything, she sure was happy when Haru was. Despite what she may have thought, Rin was more like Tohru than she wanted to admit.

"Okay everyone!" Momiji called out, from the top of the slide. "We'll start at the slide then we'll go to the swings. After that we'll…"

As Momiji chattered on, Kyo smiled slightly. After what had been a three year void, it felt incomparable to have everything back to… _normal_. He had thought that his life had been fulfilling, but now that he felt the swell in his chest and the tight feeling in his throat, he recognized what his life had truly been. It had been a shell; a ghost of the life he had been living. Most people wanted adventure, but feeling as he was now, he was surprised to find how much he craved normalcy. His body went through the motions, in the vain apparition of living, breathing in and out the world's air. He continued on with his life, smitten with the idea that he was protecting himself from what was "hurtful." He recognized it now, that it wasn't the memories that were painful: It was that, deep down in his thudding heart, he knew that he would never be able to return to such wonderful times as the times he had lived with the girl that he had loved.

Then, a childhood wish—what had once been ambiguous thinking—was unearthed with the surprised Tohru that fell at his feet. A new friendship had bloomed, and, though could never compare to the real thing, it had taken over Kyo's artificial being and had turned it into something real.

What saddened him was that it couldn't last.

**Oo0oO**

The rain continued to fall in heavier and heavier quantities, but the five adults didn't seem to notice as they continually chased each other around the pastel parts of a child's playground. They had returned to time that none of them had ever experienced. They shrieked with every spray of mud and dodged attempts to tag, jovial laughers scattering over the wind.

Tired, but full of good spirits, Tohru excused herself and exited the game field to sit in one of the rain filled swings. She laughed with the rest of them as she watched the wild attempts of Haru to tag a squealing Rin. There was a tug at her heart and she stared down at the place where her heart laid with confusion. Such wild feeling had been occurring more and more often as the months went by. The time she spent with Kyo was constantly pulling at her heart strings, as if berating her for her ulterior motives. The feelings she felt were confusing. The sensation she felt was hard to place. It was akin to the marvel she felt when she war around her Fiancé.

After high school, her life had seemed dull, lifeless. Colorless. But when she met her fiancé for the first time, it was as if a piece of her past had fallen back into place. Slowly the feelings had been replaced by others, but the tingle she felt now, here with all these strangers, was so alike that it filled her heart to the brim. She didn't know why, but her heart beat a bit faster, her smile was a bit wider when she was around the family she had grown to love in the short space of time she had known them.

A dripping Kyo collapsed into the swing next to her, a lingering smile still on his face. It was contagious and soon a goofy grin was spread about Tohru's naturally happy face. Without knowing why, the two started laughing. Kyo pushed off the ground and began to swing; Tohru soon followed suit.

With the added push of the swing, the rain fell harder against their skin, but the two didn't notice as they pushed their swings higher and higher. It became a race to see who could reach the highest heights, but before long, the two settled down and talked as the swung. They would occasionally look over at the three others out in rain with them, but the others seemed to have entered a world of their own.

They talked quietly for a while, their swinging having abated to pushing back and forth with the toes of their shoes.

"Thank you, Kyo-kun, for inviting me out here tonight." Tohru thanked, her eyes full and bright.

"It wasn't a problem."

"You don't know how much this means to me. It's… It's… almost like _he's _back with me. You don't know how lonely I was, when he was gone. And then I fell at your feet, and you made everything better. That's more than I ever could have expected. And for that I thank you."

Kyo let that one hang in the air; a warm feeling in the air descended. Unsaid things passed between them, almost like it had when they had lived together with Shigure and Yuki.

"Tohru," Kyo asked, after a few moments of silence.

"Yes?" A dainty smile played on her lips as she watched Haru spin Momiji around and around on a tire swing. Momiji's shouts of delight were drowned out by the _pitter patter _of the rain on the slides adjacent to them.

"How did you know that you were in love with your fiancé?" Came Kyo's unanticipated question.

A puzzled look crossed Tohru's face and she looked toward him again.

"Didn't you ask me this before? The day that you forgot your umbrella?"

Kyo laughed at the memory but nodded his head.

"Well, there you have it," Tohru cheered, turning back to the happy scene of Momiji and a giggling Rin.

"Just… Just tell me again." Kyo begged. He didn't know why it was so important to him, but for some reason, he had to hear it.

God so help him, she didn't answer the same she had back then.

"Well, okay," She stuttered, slightly taken aback by his insistence. "I guess it's the little things that let you know. You're at ease with the person you love—"

_Kyo listened to Tohru as she chattered, an angelic glow about her innocent face. He watched the rain as it streaked down her face, giving her tears that went at odds the smile. A shudder of cold ran down her spine and Kyo had the great urge to throw an arm around her shoulders. He went with the prompting and gave her shoulders a squeeze._

"—You'll do everything with them—"

_Regular customers waved to Kyo as he passed and he raised an arm idly back. He caught a swish of chocolate hair turning the corner into the steamy kitchen and he followed it in._

No one was surprised to see Kyo behind the scenes—he was there enough with Tohru. He was an unpaid employee in their books. A short, slight lady, the head chef, tossed him a while chef apron and he tied it on, smiling.

"—You know everything there is to know about them. Even things they don't know—"

"_Is Kyo-kun okay?" She asked, moving closer to see how he was. He backed away and scratched he down-turned head. In the short time that they had spent together, she had already picked up on his most subtle moods._

"Er… It's nothing. I just…" He cast his eyes around for a legitimate reason for his downcast manner. His eyes landed on her opened umbrella. "It's just that… I forgot my umbrella.

"—You can finish their sentences and can even tell what their going to say before they start—"

"_Ah!" Tohru's eyes brighten. "Strawberry!"_

"I thought you would like it." Kyo told her before he pulled his own chair out. He began eating his own ice cream.

"I do! I love it.' Tohru gushed as she picked up her own bowl. "It's my—"

"_Favorite, I know."_

"—You'll do things you wouldn't usually, just to please them—"

"_Like I'd want to share-"but he bit back the rest of his retort. He had been going to finish up with "Why would I want to share a girly pink umbrella." He was past bad tempers now. He was a reasonable adult. Plus, this conversation was beginning to sound awfully familiar._

"Okay. We can. But I get to hold the umbrella."

"—with them, you just feel… safe."

**Oo0oO**

A few hours later, the fully wet and sopping group trouped back to Kyo's apartment, the shining smiles on their faces standing out against the night like beacons. So loud was the laughter they spewed that Kyo had to hush the whole lot of them—even Tohru—by reminding them that he had neighbors who liked to sleep.

They settled in on Kyo's couches, still clothed in the wet clothes in which they had taken a rain bath. Kyo occupied his favorite large, red recliner while Momiji sat perched on the other. Haru, Rin, and Tohru had taken their places on the one couch in that room. As they fell into their places, so did an amiable discussion.

Into the late hours of the night, the five talked, spewing drinks across the room at funny comments and reminiscing over enjoyable times. The four Sohmas were careful to steer the conversation into safely charted territories, avoiding all mention of risky subjects. Rather, the group spent their time discussing current events. It seemed that everyone—even Kyo—had an opinion about some movie star gone bad or the taste of the new flavor of ice cream down at the corner store. The night was unparallel to any night ever spent.

So it was with the greatest heaving of sighs that Haru carried a sleep deprived Momiji out of Kyo's warm apartment, with an equally disappointed Rin at his heels, the rain soaked jacket tucked into the crook of her arm. It hadn't stopped raining; rather the rain was idly pattering down on his roof, a light titter compared to the guffaw it had been before. Rin had turned down a jacket loan from Kyo, telling the slightly confused boy that she was partial to walking in the rain; it was a bit of a catharsis for her.

After a final parting wave, Kyo pulled his front door closed and turned away with a tired pant. His eyes fell on the sleeping form of Tohru. It appeared that she had fallen asleep some time during the events of the night and the four had been so preoccupied that they hadn't noticed. Sighing again, he moved forward to wake her, but his hand stopped a hairsbreadth away from her shoulder. The rain pounded down on the roof, a constant reminder of what was outside.

He stood back up, strode over to his long in need of repair washing machine, and reached above the inoperable machine for the pink felt blanket he knew was stored there. Taking it with him back to the front room, he placed it gingerly over her sleeping form. Kazuki hopped up on the couch and curled into a ball by her head. His solemn green eyes stared up at Kyo.

With a final look at Tohru, he switched the lights off, trotted down the hallway and fell into his own bed.

**Oo0oO**

Despite the late hours spent awake the night before, Kyo's internal alarm clock woke him at the regular time and despite the time spent trying to fall back to sleep, it would not let him. With a few well chosen mutters, Kyo threw back his down comforter and headed for his kitchen. He hadn't forgotten that Tohru was at his house, but it still came as a surprise to him that she was there, asleep on his couch.

As silently as he could, he went about his way in preparing breakfast. He braced himself for the worst when Tohru awoke. She was sure to be a bit disoriented and well… _Tohru_.

A knock came at the door, just as Kyo was placing two glassed on the table. Wondering just who could be at his door at such an hour in the morning, Kyo tiptoed over to the door and pulled it open.

Standing there was Yuki.

"Here's your mail. I'm glad to see that you were well enough too…"

His voice petered out when his gaze landed on Tohru's sleeping form.

"Who is that!" Yuki demanded.

* * *

_Dun dun dun!!!! I will say no more!_

_Besides this fact: the whole time I was writing this chapter, I had this funny image of what Haru and Rin's life is like right now. I can kinda picture Haru and Rin living together, taking care of Momiji. He's like their… same age son!_

_I thought it was cute!_

As always! Point out any typos and REVIEW!!!! Fanks!


	16. Expulsion

_I know… I know… this is way over due… I won't make any excuses, except for claiming the usual laziness that hindered me and two weekend trips to Virginia. I also got the flu, but I wasn't feeling in the mood to write even before then, so it's hardly an excuse either… Oh well! I'm back and ready to rumble (okay, not really, but this is a good reason to procrastinate studying for my 100 question test tomorrow…)_

* * *

**R E R U N**

"_So shall they make their own tongue to fall upon themselves; all that see them shall flee away"_

* * *

A stiffness filled the air as Kyo froze in place. Yuki's soft eyes hardened into an icy glare as he stood up on tiptoes to get a better look over Kyo's shoulder at the sleeping figure behind him. Kyo made no move to hide what he knew was already a lost cause. Yuki, as quiet as his wife, picked up on things subtly and Kyo had the itching feeling that Yuki knew that he had been keeping something hidden for a while. Kyo certainly hadn't been calling on the Sohma clan for a while, a strange behavior for someone who loved Yuki's daughter as much as Kyo did. His shoulders drooped as he bit his lip and shook his head, utterly defeated.

As if awakened by the silence, Tohru's eyes opened as she sat up and began to rub he sleep out of her puppy dog eyes, smiling to greet the morning. The tenseness in the air didn't seem to bother her, as it seemed never to. Tohru blinked a few times then glanced around her surroundings with a bewildered look; only a few seconds later she seemed to have recalled where she was and smiled warmly at the two men. Instantly, Kyo felt Yuki stiffen.

"Can I talk to you in the hallway?" Yuki asked Kyo, a steely tone masked by winsome air. He jerked his head toward the carpeted landing outside and Kyo nodded, stepping out after him and snapping the door closed quietly behind his person. He stood with his hand on the silver handle a few more seconds, savoring the time he had left before he would have to change, to forget, to have his life taken from him again. Before Yuki noticed the pause, Kyo turned to the shorter man with a sigh and set in for what he knew would be a long haul.

What surprised him was that it didn't come. The only sound from Yuki was a single question.

"Why?" He asked, much to the surprise of Kyo. Yuki pointed toward the door of Kyo's apartment, a gesture that Kyo took to mean 'Tohru.'

Kyo stood, struck dumb and at a loss for words. There was no simple answer to the multitude of questions that Yuki had asked with that one simple word. He decided to play dumb and avoid the question that he knew Yuki had meant to ask.

"She fell asleep on my couch last night and I decided not to wake her." He told Yuki shuffling his feet like a schoolboy about to be punished. "She looked so peaceful that I—"

"Kyo!" Yuki snarled. "You know that's not the answer I'm looking for! Why!? Why did you go against my orders and meet her after I specifically told you _not _to?"

To this, Kyo had no answers he was willing to share. He stood, toes together along a run in the carpet. He could feel Yuki's stare boring into the top of his head as he looked pointedly down at them, shame heating his face.

"Kyo!" Yuki repeated, but this time Kyo detected an underlying plaintive wail to his tone. "Why?" His last word was sharp and all at once Kyo was fed up with hiding.

"I just did! Okay!" He snapped at Yuki, who stepped back, a bit startled by Kyo's sudden outburst. "She gave me her phone number and… It just sort of fell into place. We've been hanging out for a while."

Kyo's voice began to whine, begging Yuki to understand. Yuki had his world with him after the curse was broken so long ago. Machi had loved him before she had found out about the curse and her memory of her love had not been erased. Together, they had built a world that Yuki could live comfortably in, happy and blissful. Kyo had been left with nothing that catastrophic night that all of his most dear friends had been taken from him at once.

"I just couldn't help myself. You know how much she meant to me and the fact that she was back was just too much for me to take! You have to understand!" He looked to Yuki with mournful eyes, whose face remained impassive.

"I know what I did was bad for the family and all, but Momiji and Haru and Rin met her again last night and she seemed to be fine!" A sudden feeling of jubilation welled up in Kyo as a though occurred to him. "It was great for them as well! I bet we could reintroduce her to the whole…" His voice petered out as he looked to Yuki, who appeared even angrier than before.

"How can you even be saying this?" Yuki asked with a quiet, sinister voice.

"How can I suggest something good for the family?" Kyo asked snappishly. "I thought I would, since you haven't seemed to be doing such a good job."

"THIS ISN'T ABOUT THE FAMILY!!" Yuki thundered, quieting Kyo instantly. "This is about Tohru! We can't let her remember us! If you really cared about her like you said you did, you'd have left her well enough alone!"

"She seems fine right now. I don't see how letting her remember us will hurt at all! In fact, I think it would be better for all of us." Kyo snapped back.

"Better for you!" Yuki cut in. "You're not thinking about Tohru!"

"You haven't been around her! She seems fine."

"SHE THINK'S YOU'RE DEAD!!!!" Yuki roared in Kyo's face, quelling the rising excitement that Kyo had felt at his discovery.

"No she doesn't!" Kyo shot back stubbornly, but it was all in a vain hope as he felt his spirits sink. Yuki was right.

"For now she doesn't" Yuki shot back. "She just doesn't _remember_ that she thinks you're dead. You know what happened when she thought that you had croaked! She was hardly herself and she had seizures every time you went around her! How dare you even think to use her for selfish reasons! Imagine how everyone would be if we went by your scenario and reintroduced her to the family. Everyone would be glad and joyous for a while, but it wouldn't be the same. And when she remembered us and _you_ and we all had to deal with her emotional turmoil, we would all have to go through the separation process all over again. If anything, please," Yuki begged, an imploring sound seeping into his voice, "Please, just _forget_ _her_ for selfish reasons. I know how tough it was for you to loose her. Would you want to lose her again?"

Yuki's comments led to a despondent silence. Kyo stood, slumped and downcast, letting Yuki's words sink in. He had been willing to fight for his right to have Tohru with him, but Yuki's sharp reprimand had reminded him that there were others to look out for, and while Kyo didn't like it, Yuki was doing his job as head of the family. Looking at it now, Kyo realized that it had to be hard for the white haired man to have Tohru in the next room over and not to run in and hug her as he had so often wanted to do. Kyo realized that he had taken that fact for granted the whole time Tohru had been by his side. Tohru's constant presence was in fact not commonplace, but a rare commodity that was forbidden and as much as Yuki wanted to run in and hold her in his arms, he exercised what Kyo had not been able to; self control and discipline.

"She… She just seemed so happy," Kyo said as he sunk to his knees. "The whole time I was with her she was smiling and so… at peace."

"She was happy before you came, too. She's going to be married, Kyo." Yuki's voice expressed the exasperation he felt. "Why can't _her_ happiness be enough for you?"

Yuki stopped talking and a kind softness filled his voice, "You know what you have to do. Kyo, you have to walk away before it gets harder." Yuki patted him on the shoulder and walked back towards the stairs. As he reached the top step, he pulled out a navy umbrella and turned back to Kyo, a regretful expression on his face. "Kyo, I'm so sorry."

And with that, he was gone.

Kyo kneeled where Yuki had left him and let the full weight of what had just happened bear down on him.

He was going to have to tell Tohru goodbye. Again.

As the thought occurred to him, his heart gave a sudden wrench and silent tears began to pour down his face. Images of evenings out, both past and present flashed before his eyes. Evenings he would never live again, only in memory. Tohru's smiling face would never again brighten his house or lift his spirits. Misa's mother from across the hall let out an anguished squawk to match Kyo's despondent mood.

Then an even more terrible though occurred to him. How was he going to say goodbye to Tohru? It was almost physically impossible for him to be away from her now, so not talking to her would be hard to explain as well. She would be sure to call and if he didn't pick up, she'd come to see if something was wrong or see if she could help in any way. For once, Tohru's over-niceness was an irritation, not a blessing. Kyo punched the floor sending a rattling tremor through the floorboards as well as his arm.

Kyo sat for a few seconds longer, letting his despair wash over him; it felt a bit cleansing actually, to have the weight of the secret out into public knowledge. Kyo hadn't ever been much of a secret keeper.

If only the secret had led to happier days than the ones he was sure to face.

**Oo0oO**

Breakfast had been finished and was awaiting him, steaming, on the table. The wok that the eggs had been cooked in was set off to the side counter to cool and Tohru, who appeared to have delved into the deepest recesses of Kyo's kitchen, was pulling a carton of milk out of the fridge. She turned to him, her casual smile on her face, but Kyo could see it pulling at the corners.

"Good Morning, Kyo-kun," Tohru greeted with a strained smile.

Kyo grunted in response, still unsure if his voice could hold without wavering. The shock was starting to wear off and the burden of what he had to do was all that was holding down his tears.

They sat across from each other at the table against the wall. Tohru handed out the chopsticks and spoons and they began to eat in an uneasy silence. Kyo was still ill at ease and Tohru seemed to be contemplating her food very thoughtfully. It had been a while since their meetings together had suffered with such silence, so it wasn't long before Tohru brought up an aimless question.

"Who is it that wrote this on your table?" She asked, stroking a pen mark left on the wood surface. It was a heart with Kyo's name inside

Kyo snorted slightly into his picked at food, amused to some extent at her out of the blue question.

"That would be Misa," Kyo answered, his humor receding. He didn't feel like explaining how it got there.

"She wrote on your table?" Tohru questioned, surprised that someone would graffiti another's property.

"She thought there was paper." Kyo deadpanned.

The conversation fell, once again, into strained silence. Kyo picked at his food, in no mood to eat, though his stomach had been growling since early morning. Tohru, too, seemed uninterested in her food and continued to push it around her plate.

All at once, Tohru dropped her utensils and bowed her head.

"I'm sorry, I really am." She burst out.

Kyo looked up sharply from his scrambled eggs. "You're sorry for what?" He asked, confused.

"I heard you talking in the hall with that man, Sohma-san I think." She bowed her head lower. "I know I shouldn't have eavesdropped, but I was worried for you. You looked really sad."

Kyo stood up, unable to sit any longer. He grabbed his plate and took it over to the sink where he took his time washing it. He let the water run for long after the plate was clean.

"I… I heard my name mentioned." She stuttered and Kyo's fist tightened on the rim of his dish. "And I'm really sorry that if I've caused you any problems!"

"Don't worry about it," Kyo growled under his breath, but Tohru appeared to have not heard him as she continued on.

"It's just that I was so happy when I found out that you were still around. You were a connection to my past, which seemed really… empty after high school was over. Everyone else was gone and you were my only alternative." She confided.

"So you were using me?" Kyo asked, his snappish attitude back. All at once, the world was too bright, the rain too loud and even Tohru's presence was grating on his every nerve. His emotions were taut and about to break so the information download that Tohru was doling out was putting stress where no stress needed to be applied. He was out of whack and could not be held accountable for his emotions. Even Tohru, ever soothing, could be counted as an irritant.

Tohru's eyes widened at his question. "N-no! Not at all! It's just that you were a connection back to my past and I thought that you could help me remember a little of what I had lost. So, yes, I guess in that regard it was a bit selfish of me. But I had other motives too! See, you remind me so much of my fiancé that it was almost like he was back! You don't know how happy that made me to—"

"I DON'T WANT TO TALK ABOUT YOUR FIANCE!" Kyo bellowed. Tohru shrunk back, scared by Kyo's outburst. Under normal circumstances, Kyo would have seen such a move and had have been instantly quieted, but these were far from normal times and the stress of loosing Tohru again was sinking in. "I'm tired of hearing you talk about him when I'm unable to be with the person--" He cut off, but the look on Tohru's face knew that she understood well enough.

"Kyo-kun, I'm really sorry." Tohru reached out a comforting hand to Kyo who turned his back.

"I'm sure you are," Kyo sneered, more to himself than anyone else.

Tohru drew back, a hurt look on her face. When she saw that he had seen, she tried to wipe her face blank, but the damage had already been done.

"Don't!" Kyo cried, humbled. "Don't." He turned his back to her and clenched the side of the counter. "Don't start pretending not to feel hurt around me. Don't add that to my list of crimes committed against you."

A truly sorry look about her face, Tohru stalked forward to comfort Kyo. "You've never done anything to upset me." She reached forward to pat his cheek, but Kyo dodged out of the way.

"I have," He admitted, walking a few feet away. Turning to face her, he looked sadly toward her. "More than you could know. Just now I made you sad. I just worried you. But," his voice was strong and clear despite what he really felt inside, "the greatest wrong I've ever committed is that you are standing here talking to me. It gets more and more difficult for me to deal with that everyday."

Kyo saw her shocked look and felt his heart rip into shreds. "I'm not sure… I don't know how much longer I can stand having you here." He admitted, all his breath gushing out of him. "So, please, just… go."

Tohru's eyes widened and she stood still for a few seconds. Sniffing silently, she turned from Kyo and though he felt the urge to hold her tight, he knew that it would cause more hurt than help if he did so. Instead he stood in the kitchen, forcing himself to watch her. Shocked look still in place, Tohru gathered her things as Kyo watched. She exited his front door without a sound.

The house was quiet. A sense of negative elation shot through Kyo, knowing that he had succeeded in driving her away, but by so doing, she had taken his world with her.

Kyo roared into the air, suddenly fed up with the way his cursed life had treated him. Not for a second could it give him a break or allow him a shot at happiness without snatching it away in the most terrible of times. In his moments of jubilation, the cause of his joy was ripped away from him; in his times of sadness, his shoulder to lean on was unwilling or incapable if at all present. The times he needed support most were the times that his family failed and turned against him as well. And the worst part of it was that he couldn't place the blame on anyone but himself. Yuki had only been doing his job to protect the rest of the family. It had been Kyo's own fault for wading into far deeper waters than he could possibly swim in. The curse may have been lifted, but in his own way, Kyo was still as much of the Cat as he had always been.

Still roaring, Kyo took a mad swipe at something, _anything_, with the idea that physical pain would be better than the pain he was really feeling. His hand landed on the hot wok, which clattered to the ground sending a yelping Kyo to the cold water faucet.

As his hand throbbed under the cool water, Kyo berated himself for such rash thinking. However, the hot wok had cleared his anger addled brain and he was thinking much more rationally.

Cool cloth wrapping his hand, he suddenly felt drained. He strode over to the couch, where he collapsed on top of the folded blanket that Tohru had left. His eyes closed and it was dark for a long while.

**Oo0oO**

He woke up later that day with a splitting head ache and the hugest grumbly stomach that he had ever lived with. Since going for more than twelve hours without food was practically a record the way he had been living lately, he trotted over to the fridge the moment his feet hit the ground.

After fixing a snack, Kyo sat to complete the homework assignment he had been procrastinating for some time. He hit the books, snack at side, but his mind was elsewhere and he was unable to concentrate on his work. For a few seconds longer he scribbled his essay, but before long he pushed the paper way with an aggravated huff. His mind was buzzing like a hive of bees with the day's events. His idea of "normalcy" had been swapped, yet again, and Kyo was sure that he wouldn't get any work done without thinking first of what its new identity was.

Tohru was gone, that much was for sure. Kyo's heart thudded on at a normal pace, which was morbidly good news. He was already used to the fact that she was out of his life forever. Maybe it had to do something with the fact that he had subconsciously told himself that his time with her was limited; perhaps it was the fact that _he_ had been the one to drive her away that played a factor in his steady heart.

Regardless of the facts, he still wasn't pleased with them and he would be confounded if he let things rest as they were.

He leaned back in his desk chair, letting the wheels repel him back a little while he thought. As it stood, he wasn't in any position to confront Tohru; that bridge was burned far beyond repair. He was sure that with time Tohru would forgive him, but he wouldn't ever be able to acquit himself. Again, his selfish reasoning. Yuki had been right.

Leaning forward, Kyo pulled out a clean sheet of paper and placed it in front of him, a plan blooming in his mind. Slowly, he began to write. He had been the one to hurt Tohru and he owed her at least a slight apology. The letter would hurt when it arrived, that much Kyo was sure of, but it would save her from a life time of doubt and wonder.

The phone rang, but Kyo ignored it, too engrossed in his letter to notice.

"_Dear_ _Tohru_," He wrote, spacing out the words until it filled the whole line.

Thinking it was too sentimental for the letter he was going to write, he crumpled the paper and lobbed it into the trash. He wasted four more sheets of paper in this fashion and it was fifteen minutes until he got the letter close enough to perfect as the thought he could manage.

"_Tohru_," It started, followed by the day's date.

"_For starters, I'd really like to apologize for my actions today. I was a bit out of line and I know that what I did really hurt you. I assure you that my intentions, however, were pure and if you'll read on, I'll explain to you why I did what I did._

_Secondly, I'd like to tell you that, while I said that you only caused me pain, it was stretching the truth far out of proportion. You were one of the best things that ever happened to me. I'd like to thank you for all the times you went out of your way to make time for me. All of our evenings out and the ventures we undertook were the highlight of my life. Everyday I would come home from work and school down in the dumps, only to have my life perk up when I realized that you were knocking at my door with your happy smile. We pulled quiet a few crazy stunts, didn't we? I'll treasure those times forever, I assure you. You say that I helped you cope with your fiancé being away, but I'll bet that you were more of a help to me then I was to you. My life had been a bit dull, like yours after High School and the fact that you reappeared and accepted me was more wonderful than you can ever begin to understand._

_I know after reading this, you'll be even more confused; if everything went so fantastically, why the sudden blow up and ditching? I hate the fact that you and I can't be acquaintances any longer, but the problem runs far deeper than you could ever understand. If you did, there would be even worse problems to worry about._

_Part of the problem, the part that you would understand, is me. The fact is that I do have some one I love. YOU are the one I love. Misa and Sana and all the others in my life were just fillers until you came along to really fulfill it. It just so happens, that my life is cursed, and you were engaged. _

_My feelings for you have been growing slowly. For a while I just ignored them, and then I denied them. But I can't live with lying to myself and I knew I had to quit before it was too hard to see you go._

_I know that at this point you must be thinking that this is something that we could work through, but I wouldn't want to put you through that process. The problem is deeper rooted than you could ever work though. I know I'm being cryptic, but please: let our communication stop heer. If for any reason, please, for my sake, don't come back to me. Stay and live your life happily, knowing that I'll be your silent companion and that you always have a friend somewhere out there in the world. It would be the best for both of us._

_Yours,_

_Sohma Kyo."_

He placed his pencil back on his desk and leaned back in his rolling chair, somewhat satisfied by the job he had completed. He was sure that Tohru would still be confused, but she would respect his privacy.

The phone rang as he was in mid-stretch and he froze, startled by the sound. He glanced over at it and was surprised to find that the message light was blinking. There hadn't been any messages earlier that day; he was sure of it.

He stood and strode over to the phone, picking it up on the fifth ring.

"Hello," He answered, "Sohma Kyo here."

"Sohma-kun, this is Officer Takashima. Are you free for a few seconds?" The voice on the other line announced. "I have a very important question to ask you."

Kyo froze. Takashima was the head of the Special Ops department. Why in the world would he call Kyo?

After Kyo's voice returned, he answered, "Yes, I'm free. What do you need?"

"I was calling to let you know that you have been selected to accompany me on a specialized mission, one that I have heard you have some personal stake in."

"Oh, yeah, sure. What's going on?" Kyo asked. He wasn't sure what Officer Takashima was talking about.

"I was under the impression that your commander called you?" The statement came out more as a question.

"I did get a phone call but…" Kyo scratched the back of his head, abashed. "I wasn't able to take it."

"Very well," The officer said hurriedly. "For the sake of time, I'll inform you, but make sure to watch your calls from now on."

"Yes sir," Kyo agreed. "Now what is this mission."

"Misa Yagami was taken from her home last night," The officer explained. "She is the daughter of an important government official and as head of Special Ops, I'm enlisting your help to find her."

Kyo's mouth dropped open.

Misa was gone.

* * *

_Okay!!! I think you might be able to see why it was sort of hard for me to write this with the limited time that I had… I don't know if it flowed (Is that even a word?) properly, but I did my best._

_I did like some of the symmetry in this chapter though: at the near-end of the KNO Tohru admits that she loves Kyo and at the near-end of this story (AKA this chapter) Kyo admits that he loves Tohru. And of course it always fails._

_I'm really sorry that it took this long to update. I'm sure that you think I was gone forever._

_If you wish to yell at me: review_

_If you wish to curse me: review_

_If you wish to sing my praises: review_

_If you are a good person: REVIEW!!!_

_Thanks and I promise that next time it won't take this long! _


	17. The Crime Scene

_This is getting ridiculous how long it is taking me to update. I don't expect any of you to be following my story anymore, but for my sake I'm going to finish it. There are only two or three more chapters anyway._

_From here on out I'm just kinda winging it. I lost the story plans a while ago. I threw them out in a mad rage of cleaning when I wasn't planning on continuing this story. But now that I am, I just have to remember what was going to happen off the top of my head… Oh well! Life will go on! Anyways; here is the next chapter for those of you good enough to actually be following this story still. Thanks for putting up with me and my bad habits._

_Oh, and by the way: the name of the street later on in the story was made completely out of my imagination. I don't event think it's a Japanese word… and if it means something terrible or insulting, I'm sorry. It wasn't in the mood to look up another name. So we'll just pretend that it means "Burberry" and we'll get over it._

* * *

R E R U N

_Not all those who wander are lost_

* * *

Quick as he could, Kyo shoved the clothes he would need into a bag without looking at them. He didn't have enough time. With his forearm, he did a clean swipe of the bathroom counter and piled all of its contents on top of the bundle of clothing. He pulled the backpack onto his shoulders while trotting over to his desk at the top of the hall.

Breakfast from that morning was still on the table where he had left it after his outburst. Weirdly, he felt the pull to tidy it, but he knew that he needed to get a move on. Every second Misa was away from home was a terror and a danger. He could only imagine what her parents, over doting as they were, where feeling. With shaking hands, both from excitement and emotion, he grabbed his keys, wallet, and cell phone and kicked the door shut behind him.

As he made his way wildly down the stairs he pressed the phone to his ear and waited for someone to answer. He was out by the curb before Machi picked up. Thankfully, Yuki had gone to work. Kyo wasn't ready to face him yet.

"Hello?" Machi asked, a bit distracted.

"Machi, this is Kyo," Kyo stated as he hailed a taxi. "Can I ask you a major favor?"

"Oh? Sure, what do you need?" Machi asked after a hushed. "_No An, Mommy's on the phone right now_."

"I've been called out of town. In fact, I'm leaving right now. Would you and An be willing to watch Kazuki, my cat, while I'm away?" Kyo slid into the cab without waiting for the trunk to open. He waved his hand at the driver and told him "Ranguki Street. Hurry!"

"Sure, Kyo…" Machi told him. "We'd love to. But I also would have loved a little advanced warning."

"Me too." Kyo said as he hung up the phone.

**Oo0oO**

It was a short drive to his destination and Kyo hopped out, shoving bills into the cabdriver's hand. He stood on the corner, backpack donned and sighed. He still had a bit of a walk before he was at the police station where he would be briefed. He hadn't wanted to pull up directly at the station. As important as Misa was, he needed a bit of time to collect himself before he started working.

Still, he rushed forward, a quick walk compared to that of the pedestrians around him. To many, it would look like he was chasing someone, as he darted around person after person and kept his head above the crowd. He made his way down the city block in half a minute and cleared the stairs with a single step. He pulled open the door to the station and a bell clanged somewhere deep in the building. Kyo heard noises coming from the higher-up's offices and he made his way to where they were.

His first impression of the group was that they were all older than him. Many of the men were old and graying with trimmed mustaches and nice suits. Kyo felt rather out of place in his pajama bottoms; he hadn't had time to change. But the men didn't seem to notice as they ushered him into the haphazard circle they had formed. Many of them were standing, but Kyo found himself being forced into a waiting room chair. Surprised, he found himself looking at Sana. She, however, didn't look at all surprised to see him there.

He was about to ask what on earth she was doing at a briefing, but she placed a finger on her lips and pointed to a rather tall, balding man at the front of the room. He had on a black pinstripe suit and his thinning dark hair was streaked with silver. In his hand, he held a thin black pointer and was waving it rather threateningly in the air. This man was Officer Takishima, a man who Kyo would have died to meet on any other circumstances. It appeared that he had started the meeting without Kyo, but Kyo soon caught the drift of what was happening: The men who had taken Misa had sent a video asking for ransom, and, from the video, the super sleuths had managed to figure out where Misa was being kept: It was the Kuno Family Grocery; _Rei's _Family's grocery store. _(A/N- In case you haven't read _Kyo's New Obsession_: Rei was one of Kyo's old friends. She's gonna get married to Tsujiai…)_

How had they figured it out? It had been simple. The thieves had tied Rei up as well, when they had chosen the store as their hide-out. It was closed that particular day and nothing would have looked weird about a large white truck pulling up to a store. It had been a perfect choice for the kidnappers. But if only they had known who they were messing with; Rei had been Sana's best friend. Sana could identify the store, and Rei, from anywhere.

**Oo0oO**

The briefing was over and the trap was set. It had really been too easy for the services to come in and take control of the situation. Now all that was to get the captives back. They were on their way to the location at that very time.

Kyo held the general-issued, military-cut gun in his hands. It was loaded, with another round in his belt pocket. Palms sweating, he shuffled it from hand to hand as he waited nervously for the call to come. While he wouldn't even have to think about throwing forth a swift roundhouse kick or a few punches, the sight of the gun his hand was enough to send him into a cold sweat. If there was any way that he wouldn't have to use the shiny new toy, he would find it.

Sana, however, seemed to have no such qualms as she deftly pulled the gun apart and clicked it back into place. She seemed slightly cranky, but that was hardly surprising, considering the hostage situation. After she had finished her through investigation of the weapon, the two of them sat silently with their thoughts. It wasn't a hard thing to do, as the both of them didn't really like to talk.

For the most part, Kyo thought of Tohru; he wondered how she was doing and how she was handling the news. Kyo felt a bit conceded, thinking that he was an important enough person in Tohru's life for her to actually feel anything by his sudden removal. But it was true. Somehow, in the past months, the two had fallen into the same treads that they had followed all their years in high school. Kyo had found his old friends (well, part of them) and he had become nearly as close to Tohru as he been in high school. But like how the previous story had ended, they had been forced to part ways due to powers outside of Kyo's control.

And in both cases it had been for the better. In a way, his life was still cursed.

"How're you going to handle this?" Sana asked after a while of comfortable silence.

Pulled out of his reverie, Kyo blinked, confused. "Handle what? The rescue mission? Like they told me to in basic training: keep a cool head and eyes everywhere at once."

Sana gave him eyes of disbelief and sighed before pressing on. "No, not that, silly! What about the fact that you're going to have to see Rei-chan. What if she remembers you…?"

Kyo hadn't thought of that, but he wasn't given the time to ponder exactly what was going to happen, as the call was issued for the cops to come forth. The white van he was riding in squealed to a halt, giving away any form of surprise that they had been hoping for. The group, however, wasn't going for surprise and as they tumbled out of the numerous vans. That was a fact apparent when twenty or so armed men and women tumbled out of the vans; they weren't planning a sneak attack, but rather an ambush.

Kyo fell behind the charge, not able to shake the feeling of ridiculousness he felt. Why they needed twenty men to charge a grocery store was above his head, but he just went with it. After all, he concluded, Misa was a very important person and the some-odd number of kidnappers would be no match for the mob of armed police officers. Better safe then sorry was the correct approach.

They pushed open the doors and thronged down the creaky stairs to the storage area below the shop. There they found a freezer, which had been turned _off,_ and one of the people near the front shushed the rest of the crowd. Kyo followed the rest of the more experienced men and cocked his gun. A hush fell over the group once again after their guns had been placed into position.

All at once, the mob made a huge forward motion and Kyo was swooped along and into the freezer. There was a shout of "FREEZE!" and guns were pointed all around the room. Kyo pointed his own shaking gun toward a tall bald man whose hands had snapped into the up position automatically. It seemed that it wasn't his first run in with the police.

It was a simple matter of rounding up the men and assessing the captives' health. There was a slight scuffle with one of the larger men, but with more than one burly police officer holding him down, it wasn't long before he was packed, along with the rest of his crowd, into one of the awaiting police cars.

In the mean time, Misa and Rei had been freed. Misa had run over to Kyo, who had swept her up in a huge hug. Regardless of how obnoxious and loud her friends had been at four in the morning or how often she had chattered while Kyo had been attempting to study, Misa had been the best next door neighbor girl Kyo had ever imagined. He was glad she was safe. Soon, however, she was swept away by an examiner and Kyo was left alone again.

He felt the familiar itch that one feels when they know that someone was staring at them. He glanced around cautiously to spot who was giving him the eye. At first it was hard to tell, with everyone milling around aimlessly, but soon his eyes fell on the one person that he really wanted to speak to; Rei Kuno.

She was giving him not the once over, but the full blown stare-down. Her pale eyes were squinted and she was giving him an apprising look, as if placing him from some lost dream. Slowly, she made her way over to him, but stopped a few meters short as tears welled up in her eyes. Then she ran at him at break-neck speed and rammed into his chest. Enveloping him in a hug, she sniffed and punched his shoulder lightly.

"Kyo Sohma." She said, pulling away. "How dare you go for so long without contacting me!"

Kyo was surprised, to say the least, and he let out an anxious chuckle. "Yeah, terrible me…"

"Kyo, I'm so sorry!" She started to cry in earnest now, tear streaks mixing with previous stains on her cheeks. It was obvious that she had been doing a lot of crying in the last day. Being kidnapped could do that to you. "I… I don't know what happened after that night, at the party, that kept me from contacting you. I… I don't know at all! I don't know what pushed me to have my memories wiped, but I did and I'm sorry. I'm a lousy friend. I'm really sorry."

"There's no need to be sorry," Kyo told her, awkwardly patting her on the shoulder. He was beginning to question Hatori's memory wiping-skills, (whatever they were called) if all of his friends were remembering him so easily. Then again, Kyo had talked to Hatori and had got the impression that Hatori meant for them all to come together again. He seemed to have done his best work on Tohru though. "Everything that we did was for your own good."

"Yeah... right." Rei said as she wiped her eyes with the back of her sleeve. "When has a Sohma been the best judge of what's best for everyone else. You can't even seem to take care of yourselves…"

Kyo let out a shaky laugh. Sana, who had been stuck talking to one of the older officers, trotted over to Rei and wrapped her up in a hug. Over Rei's shoulder, she gave Kyo a questioning look. In turn, Kyo nodded. He could read the question she had asked with her eyes; yes, everything had gone well.

Kyo was about to start up a conversation with Rei, an ambiguous move on his part, when his phone rang. He took a breath, cringed, and excused himself from his huddle of friends.

A bit apart from the rest of the hustle and bustle of the scene, Kyo pulled out his phone. Flashing on the front screen, was the name "Yuki Sohma." Sighing, Kyo pressed the send button and held the phone to his ear.

Before he was even able to mutter a greeting, Yuki had begun talking.

"Kyo. We have a major problem. Get down to the main house as soon as you can. And if you can grab Sana, she'd be a big help too. I'll explain when you get here."

And with that Yuki was gone.

**Oo0oO**

* * *

_I know… I know. This chapter was really out of the blue and not like any of the other chapters. It wasn't really that important (well… It is…) in content but it was important in placement. You'll see why. Let's just say that I had to waste some time for certain reasons… Plus, I needed a change of pace and a crime scene seemed like the way to go._

_Anyways… I don't actually expect anyone to review, but if you will, that would be more than appreciated. You are all still the best, regardless if my story sucks or not…_


	18. Problem Child

_Okay! I am set for updating sooner! Lookie! It's only been one day since I updated and I'm already starting the new chapter._

_(Take note that if this chapter happens to come out two, three months from know, let it be known that __**I did start early**__! My motor may have just puttered out along the way…)_

_Anyways, I really have no clue with what's going to happen with this chapter, as I haven't written it yet. I have some idea, but I don't know how it's going to happen… Right now I'm just content to listen to "The Trees," by Rush. Happiness abounds._

PS: I don't own Fruits Basket. Or Kleenex…  
________________________________________________________________________

_R E R U N_

_The worst crime is faking it- Kurt Cobain_

As his phone clicked off, Kyo held it to his ear, expecting to hear more from the tiny speaker. It remained silent, except for when the dial-tone started up again. He blinked in surprise and pulled the bit of technology away from his ear, staring down at it with confusion. That had to have been the shortest conversation he had ever had with his silver-haired counterpart, and their conversations ranked on the winning side of short. Frowning, Kyo slid his phone shut and placed it in his pants' pocket.

Yuki hadn't given him much to go on, that much was sure, but it wasn't often that he called Kyo, spoke in such cryptic terms and then hung up without waiting for a reply. Machi had tailored him into somewhat of a respectable phone user, so this was an interesting turn for the polite man. But it was because of this turn of events that Kyo felt the great urge to hurry to the main house as quickly as he could.

However, tearing Sana away from the still crying Rei would turn out to be more difficult than he would have thought possible. Yuki, however, had mentioned her specifically, and Kyo felt it important to come as prepared as possible.

Cringing, he looked toward his old friends, who were still hugging. Sana was patting Rei's shaking back. Kyo felt a moment of regret; she was crying because of him. All at once, her memories of that trying night were flooding back into her brain. So much trauma all at once couldn't be easy to handle. The moment of regret passed, however, as he stalked toward them, a bit of a determined bounce to his stride. Sana saw him coming and she raised an eyebrow at his furrowed brows. She could tell that something was up.

Kyo bit his lip, not wanting to take Sana away from her best friend, but also urgent to see her at the same time.

"Um, Rei… could I pull Sana away from you for a few seconds? I need to ask her a few questions." He asked, shrinking back from any possible sort of outburst Rei-the-emotional would throw his way. To his surprise, but also not, she nodded her head, sniffing as she wiped her nose on her long, red sweater sleeve.

Sana shot him a vying look as she unlatched herself from Rei and walked with him a few strides away. He turned his back to Rei and looked Sana in the eye.

"Look, Sana, I need to ask you a question." He told her, beating around the bush.

"That fact has already been stated," Sana expressed, giving him one of her famous gibe looks. She was rather ornery, but that was to be expected. "I need to get back to Rei."

"You see her all the time! Can't you just hold on for a second?"

"No, Kyo, I don't see her all of the time. So hurry up," Sana snapped her fingers, hurrying him on.

Kyo was about to start, when he realized the full meaning of her words. "Wait, what do you mean that you don't ever see her!? Aren't the two of you supposed to be best friends or something?"

"We were," Sana supplied evasively.

"You _were_?" Kyo questioned, stressing the past-tense that she had used. "As in you're not anymore?"

Sana sighed. "We had a bit of a falling out; all of us. Well, _me,_ actually…"

"Over what?" Kyo asked. He had heard of this before, when Sana had accidentally let it slip, but she hadn't expounded on it. It turned out that this time wouldn't be any different.

"Nothing…nothing. Just, what do you need?" Sana asked, waving her hand, exasperated

"Well," Kyo asserted, trying to hold her attention which he could tell was starting to wane. "Here it is: can you come with me to the main house."

"The Sohma main-house?" Sana asked, tapping her fingers on her upper arm.

"That would be the one. Some sort of trouble has popped up and Yuki was wondering if I could bring you along."

"Can Rei come?"

Kyo paused before answering. "I don't think so…"

"Then, no." She started forward, but Kyo caught onto her upper arm.

"Sana, why?" He asked, a begging whine forming deep in his throat.

"Friends stick together when they need help. Right now you're being a lousy friend, running off without even checking on Rei. She's going through a lot right now and you're worried about a stupid family feud in a family that can't keep itself together?" Sana told him, rather loudly. She pulled her arm out of his grasp and stalked forward again. Kyo felt a bit of a wrench in his chest as she pulled away.

"You're being a lousy friend right now, too, you know." He whispered, and Sana stopped.

"What?" She asked, turning back to him.

"You said that 'friends stick together when they need help.' I need your help and you're walking off." Kyo's voice was rising with every syllable.

"I think that right now Rei's problems are a little more important than yours. Will you care about her for a little while?! She just was a victim in a kidnapping and now she has to relive a moment in her life that she hasn't ever witnessed before. Her life is falling to shambles right now."

"And mine isn't?" Kyo asked incredulously.

"No, your life seems pretty hunky-dory right now compared to hers." Sana shot back.

"I think not! Sure, she may be having a rough time of it right now, but I've lived through the same things."

"But you're not going through it NOW!" Sana shouted. The rest of the people in the large underground storage room were turned to listen to the loudly bickering pair, but the two were oblivious.

"OH yeah? How much you want to bet? Let's see _she was just kidnapped_: I wasn't kidnapped, but my next-door neighbor and my best friend were. I had to come in and rescue them without knowing if it would work! _She didn't remember me and now she suddenly does_: first off, from the way you portray me, that shouldn't upset her much. But while she's just remembering me _now_, I've had to live with remembering her everyday of my life, four times over. Do you think it was easy, seeing you guys around and not being able to say anything? The four of you, Rei, Tsujiai, Kaji and you all had each other. I was left with nothing but a sobbing family and a broken heart. I lost Tohru later that week, or did you forget?"

"BUT NOW YOU HAVE TOHRU BACK!" Sana yelled. "And don't forget that Rei is going through an emotional overload. She's seeing that night for the first time. When you felt first felt the terror you must have felt awful, but you've had time to get used to it."

"How would you like a knife stabbed in your heart, over and over." Kyo asked cryptically. "Because that is my life right now. Take that pain that Rei is feeling at double it. NO, TRIPLE IT!" Kyo yelled. The onlookers were silent and fresh batches of quiet tears were coursing down Rei's round face.

"Triple it?" Sana scoffed. "You may be an emotional wreck sometimes, but there is no way you could say that you suffered more from that event then the rest of us did."

"Yes there is," Kyo told her, his voice lowering dangerously.

"What?" Sana asked with disbelief.

"I've lived through it three times. Number one: the original. Number two: right here with Rei and you. And number three… _Sana, _I lost Tohru_. Again_," Kyo admitted quite suddenly, biting his lip to hold back a sob.

Her pale blue eyes widened with concern and she rushed forward to take him up in a hug. She wasn't the only one that had that idea, as Rei darted forward as well.

"Kyo, I'm so sorry. I thought that you were just being emotionally dense, like usual. I'm not going to make any excuses besides that." Sana apologized.

She pulled back and looked at him, calculating.

"Now what did Yuki say on the phone," She asked.

"Just that there's trouble at the main house and that I should bring you."

"Did you tell him anything about Rei?"

"He didn't give me the chance…"

"So he didn't _specifically_ tell you _not_ to bring Rei?"

"No…"

"She comes."

Oo0oO

They hailed a taxi outside of the store, after fetching Rei a change of clothes. The poor girl had put up quite the fight when the robbers/kidnappers/hostage-takers had come barging though her store and her clothes showed some, if not all of the damage. Once she was properly attired again, they were on their way toward the main-house.

As the Sohmas were Sohmas, and would forever be Sohmas, the main-house was placed in a difficult location to reach from the center of town. The cab ride there, even at the crazy pace the taxi insisted on driving, would take a full ten minutes to reach the main gate and then another few minutes of hiking to reach the main place. It was buried deep in the woods at the edge of Tokyo, still far enough in the city to be called a city house by the farmers, but far to large to be called a city house by the city folks. That was just the Sohma way; in their need to impress they just kicked themselves out of both circles.

For the most part, the cab ride was a silent one. Rei, in the middle, had pulled a packet of Kleenex out of her jacket and was working on dabbing the remainders of her cry fest out of her eyes and nose. Sana was staring out the window, a blank, contemplative look masking her internal worry. She didn't seem to notice, nor mind, the erratic driving of the cabdriver, nor the squeals and tissue throwing (courtesy of Rei) when he went around a particularly sharp turn.

As for Kyo, the first time he snapped out of his empty daydream was when Rei's phone went off, pealing out a tune to a popular anime. Rei quickly snatched it up, an apologetic look on her face; somehow breaking the silence was akin the breaking the law, which was a very dangerous thing to do with two, soon-to-be-cops riding on either side of her.

She flipped the phone open and greeted the person on the other line. "Hello?"

"Rei?" Came the voice from the other end. Rei's volume was cranked up to high, but that was needed, as she worked at a popular and very noisy grocery store. Kyo perked up, a bit surprised. He recognized the voice on the other end of the line.

"Tsujiai?" Rei too perked up at the sound of his voice. (_A/N: again, if you didn't read _Kyo's New Obsession_, Tsujiai is one of Kyo's BFFs who's going to get married to Rei…_)

"What ever happened to that cool 'hello' we were going to say?" Tsujiai asked and Kyo could nearly imagine the puppy-dog face beginning to sprout on his face.

"I'm sorry!" Rei squealed. "I had to pick up the phone really fast, so I didn't get to see who was calling. Next time, I promise." She grinned into the phone and Kyo was at last able to see a bit of the Rei he had known all of those years ago.

"Hmmm…" Tsujiai hummed appraisingly. "You don't sound too good… Do you want me to come and check on you?"

"You're in town?" Rei gasped.

"Yeah, I thought I'd come down for a few weeks. Korea isn't that far away sweetie… at least I wasn't in America, like Kaji. But still, sorry for no notice. It was kind of a spur of the moment thing. A few of the team mates were coming back and I thought I'd hop the plane with them. So, you up for me coming to see you?"

Rei glanced around the cab and briefly before talking into the phone. "Ah, no… I'm sorry."

Her eyes fell on Kyo and they brightened as Tsujiai's dim voice came though her ear piece.

"Are you sure you're okay? Do you want me to come down and take care of you? What's wrong?" Tsujiai shot off at once.

"Tell you what—do you know where the Sohma house is?"

"Is that that huge, walled house that I used to throw eggs at?" Tsujiai asked and everyone in the car winced.

"That would be the place." Rei nodded.

"Yeah, I know where it is. What about it?"

"Meet me there."

"Okay… Love you."

"You too."

**Oo0oO**

The cabdriver sped off down the long and winding hill, leaving the three, solitary figures to cough in it's dust. It had dropped them off at the edge of the fence and when Kyo had told it to go a little further, the man had refused. The hill, it seemed, was too steep for a city cab and it wouldn't budge up another inch of the rocky trail. So the three had exited, handing off the correct change and watched it go.

They started hiking toward the main gate, a mile or so away from where they were. The group was silent again, lost once more in their little worlds.

It was Rei who first spotted the cloud of dust making it's way up the hill. They paused, at her insistence, and waited for the car to pull over to the side of the road. It was a faded yellow jeep, more mud covering the sides than actual paint. It looked rough, but loved, like the boy who was shutting the dented door.

Shaking his longish black hair out of his eyes, Tsujiai Hibiki stepped out of the cloud of dust that his car had created. Rei, her own black hair flapping in the wind, rushed forward laughing happily and jumped at Tsujiai, who caught her with a boyish chuckle. Kyo grinned awkwardly, a bit sad that he had missed this part of his friends' lives. Beside him, he felt Sana shift uncomfortably. Tsujiai spun Rei around, pecked her on the cheek, and then placed her down on the ground. He took her hand and started walking toward Kyo and Sana, before halting. Eyes wide, he took in the scene. First, his eyes fell on Sana and a confused look spread across his features. Then, his gaze slid to Kyo and his grasp on Rei's small hand tightened. For a second, he was still, eyes locked on Kyo. Slowly, his hand loosened from Rei's and a tear slid down his tanned face.

His face grew even more shocked as they slid back to Sana. He gasped and rushed forward and, much to Kyo's surprise, wrapped her in a hug.

"Sana! I'm so sorry! I finally understand! I-I remember! I know why you got so angry. Really, I'm sorry." He apologized over and over, squeezing Sana's hands.

Kyo looked at him, confused. He had only a guess, but Tsujiai seemed to be apologizing for whatever had caused their friendship-split. The shorter man (but not by much) turned toward Kyo and slapped him on the arm.

"Dude, I'm really sorry man. You have no idea. Sana tried to warn us, but you can't blame us. We didn't remember you or any of your history… So you can't blame us for…" his voice petered out as Kyo gave him a look of extreme befuddlement.

Tsujiai turned, frowning, toward the other girls. "You haven't told him yet, have you?" He asked, answered by two head shakes.

"Told me what?" Kyo asked, obviously missing something.

"Nothing, Kyo," Sana told him. "If this problem at the main house is what I'm thinking it is, you'll find out soon enough any way."

Oo0oO

The group, balanced now, with Rei and Tsujiai hanging back and Kyo and Sana leading the way, trekked the rest of the way up the rocky hill. It was a hard climb and they were left rather short of breath when the reached the top. Somehow, Kyo had the vague impression that they had taken the long route, as when he had made the trip in his younger years, it didn't seem to wind him like it did now.

Kyo rang the bell at the Front Gate and instantly the thick, wooden gates rolled open. A rather sad looking Momiji was there to greet them and he ushered them quickly into the courtyard. He didn't look at all surprised to see Tsujiai and Rei, which comforted Kyo greatly, while it plagued him at the same time. With all the bad things happening to him, though, he was starting to jump at shadows.

Momiji, aside from his initial greeting and beckon to follow him, said nothing the whole way to the main house. He had toned down a great amount from his spazzy childhood, but even for the new, quieter Momiji, this silence was too much. Antsy, Kyo dogged Momiji's heels with the other three falling to the lee.

He led them to the main house, where they met Yuki in one of the larger business rooms. The silver haired man showed a bit of shock at first seeing three-fourths of Kyo's old troupe, but he masked it very well as he invited them into the room.

It was wood-paneled, with a low ceiling and black high-backed chairs surrounding a long oak table. Kyo could only guess that it was modeled after some sort of western styling. He took a chair, however strange it felt, and the rest followed suit. He felt rather like an upper-class business man, aside from his scuffed trainers and dusty pajama bottoms. Yuki took a seat at the head of the table behind a name plaque that read "Yuki Sohma" in large, capital letters. He removed the plaque as he began speaking.

"Early today," He began, shining his newly acquired glasses with the air or practice, "a very morose, very troubled, sobbing Tohru appeared on our doorstep. Do you care to explain?"

Kyo sat, shocked. He was about to speak, to explain, when Sana spoke up.

"I have to ask… Is… her fiancé here?" She asked with some difficulty.

Yuki's eyes flashed to Kyo before he answered Sana. "Yes, he is. Tohru was in a bad state and it seemed the best move to make at the time."

"At the time?" Kyo asked, still surprised beyond belief. "What's wrong with her now? We have to go see her! Why has she been left alone?"

Yuki sighed and placed his glasses back on his nose. Most of the time, they gave him the impression of wisdom, but now they just magnified the tired bags under his eyes.

"Perhaps it _would_ just be easier for you to see…" Yuki explained, rising to his feet. The rest echoed his movement and followed him out of the sliding wooden door. They stopped, after a few minutes, in front of a non-descript door at the end of a hallway.

"Tohru's fiancé is through here… I think it best if you talk to him first… that would give us the best results, going forward." Yuki announced, turning to face the posse behind him.

"What are you talking about? What matters now is Tohru! We need to talk to her now. If things are as bad as you say, shouldn't we be focusing on her?" Kyo demanded, giving Yuki a hard glare.

"You have to walk through this room to get to Tohru anyways. Kyo, believe me. You'll want to talk to him."

Kyo shook his head, still unsure why his family was making him go through this, when the obvious problem was in need of immediate attention. He had a growing sense of dread and he felt the need to get to Tohru as soon as was possible. But if this was the quickest way, he wasn't going to waste his time arguing with his head-of-family.

"Fine," he said, pushing forward to the door. "I'll talk to this guy…"

Abruptly, he felt a tug on his tee-shirt and turned to find Rei staring up at him, her brown eyes watering slightly.

"Don't freak out, okay? Promise me that! I just… Promise me you'll take it well!" she begged, and from the look on everyone's faces, including Yuki's, they all shared the same sentiments.

Kyo sighed. "I'm better prepared than you'd think. Tohru always talked about her fiancé. I know it'll be tough, but I think I can handle it. If this is what it takes to Tohru, I have to do it."

Their faces betrayed no emotion, but Kyo caught the feeling that they didn't believe him. He turned and slid open the door.

Kyo was let out into an outside walkway. The sun was filtering through shrouds of thin, cottony clouds that gave the earth the feel of suffocation. The air was thick with humidity and it was hard to draw a breath. Combined, it blocked out the scenic view of the surrounding mountains that would have been visible on a sunny day. But even if the day had been nice, Kyo wouldn't have paid any heed to the scenery. His eyes were glued on the man at the end of the walkway; head pressed the wood paneling of the door. He was tall, about the same height as Kyo, with dusty brown hair that curled around his ears. He had on a pair of flip-flops, khaki shorts and a blue-pinstripe button up shirt.

The man seemed to have heard Kyo shut the door behind him, and he turned to face Kyo.

Kyo's mouth dropped open and his eyes widened in shock.

"Kyo Sohma?" The man asked. "They told me that you'd be coming… Can you please explain to me why they had such a martyred, poisoned look on their face when the told me that?"

Kyo just stood, too shocked for words. Gasping like a fish out of water, he managed to spill out one sentence.

"_You're_ Tohru's fiancé?"

Oo0oO

Oh!! Cliffhanger! I was going to tell you who Tohru's fiancé was, but I decided not to… Call me evil, but I updated so soon. You are officially not allowed to.

I was afraid that this chapter was going to be a shorty (AKA less than the average seven pages that I usually write) but this one turned out to be the longest yet! Ten pages on word! Congratulate me!!!

Summer is upon me, so I should update sooner… but if you really want me to update, you'll review STAT! C:

But really… If you want to know who Tohru's fiancé is, review with super niceness and I'll feel the urge to repay you for your kindness…


	19. Juncture

_So, yeah, I didn't start this one as soon as I wanted to, but that's okay. I'm going to work on this on and off throughout the week. I've had to work a lot this week and I've just had a bunch of things going on. But as this is the third to last chapter (I think), I'm not gonna stress it._

_There is one thing I am gonna stress though: It would be a wise idea to read Chapter 16: Expulsion (Where do I come up with these titles?) before you read this chapter. There may be some parts in this chappy that you might not understand if you didn't read chapter 16. So if you haven't read it, check it out!_

_One last thing before we start: thanks to _someone_ from ff. net who sent me a link to a song that is a lot like this story. I can't find the review/PM that you used, but thanks still. It's the quote for this chappy! _

PS: Someone nailed the Fiancé!! Kudos!

PPS: If you didn't know, I have pictures of all of Kyo's friends on my profile. Just scroll down to above my favorite stories and there'll be links to them!!

* * *

R E R U N

_Goodbye, my almost lover  
Goodbye, my hopeless dream  
I'm trying not to think about you  
Can't you just let me be?  
So long, my luckless romance  
My back is turned on you  
Should've known you'd bring me heartache  
Almost lovers always do_

-_**Almost Lover**_, A Fine Frenzy

* * *

Kyo's life had been like a bad rollercoaster ride, to use the overly used cliché. But it wasn't one of the good, bad roller coasters. It, the coaster of his life, had started off in a drop, like his life-cart had lost its grip on the rails, or the iron beneath it had disappeared entirely.

He supposed it had started when he had been born as the cat. The first nine months of his life had been fine, but the moment he had popped into this world, there was an irreversible twist in his fortunes. A loving but weary mother kept him inside, a sort of foreshadowing to a possible future for him, and in the end, was the cause of much grief when Kyo's own father started blaming him for the loss of his wife. Kyo had been taken by Shishou at that point, but there was always that lingering feeling that he had somehow been deceived into thinking that someone loved him; no one had before-why switch the pattern. Even with Shishou, his orange hair and flaring temper had guaranteed him a freefall into bad Karma.

His life, however, smashed back into the rails of the coaster upon his arrival at Shigure's house. He had been almost optimistic there, with what felt like rising times. Sure, he was stuck living with the rat and another of the more annoying Sohmas, but he could get over them. After all, there was always Tohru. With her smiling face and motherly compassion, he had felt like his life had been placed back on track and that it was rising, maybe to do a loop-de-loop before a quiet, gentle stop. But that upward feeling he felt was just a speed bump on the way to a strait shot right into a mucky swamp.

In a single night, he had landed himself free of the curse, down four friends and one Tohru. With promises never to see any of the five again, he was let loose in the town, without a dojo and studying law enforcement with much prompting from Shishou. However, even after his loss, he had managed to hold onto his cart, and he had felt his car start to pull him out of the muck. It was even greater when he had somehow run into Tohru and Sana again. Somehow, his feelings were soaring, even with the added trouble of a fiancé for Tohru and three missing, _feuding_ friends. But after all, Kyo had admitted stubbornly, when had he ever made a good decision for himself? Already, his life had turned sour.

By some means, divine or material, he had managed to return to the top of his rollercoaster and was again free falling right back down that slippery slope once more. He had managed to loose Tohru, yet again, and this time by his own hand and choosing. It hadn't made it easier either; it was a world harder.

All in all, it was a life that couldn't have gotten worse; unless, of course, your name was Sohma Kyo, and had managed to anger the Karma Police. Oh yes, his life had just gotten a whole lot worse.

What could he say? His life was just one long curse.

**Oo0oO**

Kyo stared a while longer at the statuesque man before him, shock covering his tanned face. Blinking, he wiped longish stalks of orange hair out of his eyes, hoping to get a better look at the man in front of him. It couldn't be! No! If it was…

"K-Kaji?" Kyo stuttered, a few seconds after his outburst. Catching himself halfway through Kaji's name, he quickly switched to the more formal form of his name, "I-I-I mean Sokara-san. I can't believe it!"

"I know, neither can I… Do you mind explaining a few things," Kaji asked, biting his bottom lip. "For one, why can't I go in and see her? That doctor fellow is keeping a pretty tight grip on the door from the other side. You would think they would call me and need me, rather than call me and leave me, you know? They were lucky I was even in town…" Kaji appeared to be rambling to himself as much as he was talking to Kyo, which suited the latter fine—Kyo was still trying to get over the shock.

Suddenly, Kyo felt rather stupid. Well, naive actually. All points, all clues, all hints, had pointed to the man he was standing before. It was just the ridiculousness of it all. What was the probability that Tohru, on an off chance, had managed to find and love one of Kyo's oldest friends. Nadda, that's what it was.

"Hey, You still there?" Kaji asked, running his fingers though his curled brown hair. It had been cut, Kyo now noticed, so it ran wild and curly without restraint, while in high school, the shaggy cut he had sported had kept most of the curl dormant. It was an odd, but appealing look.

Kyo jumped, startled out of his thoughts by Kaji's waving hand. He took an involuntary step back when he felt his personal bubble being invaded. Kaji pulled his own hand back, a bit perplexed as well.

"I-I'm sorry." He said, bowing. "That was really impolite of me, to wave my hand in your face like that! I don't know what came over me."

"_That's because it was habit, not long ago…"_ Kyo thought, but he had the sense to keep his trap closed this time.

"So, what are you here for?" Kaji asked, digging his hands into his pockets.

"Err…" Kyo began. "I'm here to see Tohru."

"Good luck with that," Kaji scoffed. "They called me over here and I haven't seen her yet…" Kaji looked at Kyo for a few seconds and then sighed.

"Are you… the Kyo that Tohru's been talking about so much?" He asked.

Kyo hesitated, and then nodded briefly.

Kaji nodded. "I thought so. Listen, I'd really like to thank you for all that you've done. I feel really bad for leaving Tohru for so long, but, weirdly, it was oddly comforting to know that a person named Sohma Kyo was looking after her."

There was a rattle and a whoosh, and before Kyo could answer Kaji, three people stalked into the room behind him. Kyo followed Kaji's wide eyes and turned to find Rei, Sana and Tsujiai standing in a defiant row behind him. Rei had her arms crossed, while next to her Tsujiai looked tentative, but resolved. But it seemed that Kaji's eyes were glued mostly on the person to the right of Tsujiai: Sana, who was standing most defiantly with her hands placed squarely on her hips.

"S-Sana?" Kaji gasped, starting to look a little peaked. To Kyo, it seemed, Kaji was beginning to tire of surprises. He had come home from America only to be directed to a strange house where he wasn't allowed to see his whimpering fiancé and was suddenly gate crashed by a man who had spent all his time with Tohru, as well as his three best friends, who all looked very unsupportive.

"Kaji," Rei squeaked from her corner. "You're making a mistake."

Kaji looked at all of them, confused. "What are you talking about? And Sana, what are you doing here? I haven't seen you for months."

Tsujiai stalked forward, grabbing Kyo's arm and pulling him toward his old best friend. Almost comically, Tsujiai grabbed Kyo's face and angled it toward Kaji's slightly taller one. "Kaji," He said, still holding Kyo's head. "Don't you recognize this face? This is Kyo Sohma. He was in our class at school. We ate lunch with him almost every day third year."

"He was one of your best friends," Sana piped up.

There was a pause, while Kaji looked around, still confused.

"What does all of this have to do with Tohru?" He asked, biting his lip.

Tsujiai, taking his hands off Kyo's face, threw up his arms in defeat and walked back toward the other two.

"We can't let you go through with your engagement." Rei said, suddenly and rather hostile.

There was a moment of silence before Kaji looked around incredulously. "What is this coming from?" He asked, his voice steadily rising. "Didn't we have this conversation when I first got engaged? And didn't it turn end up with Sana hating me?"

"It did, but now we understand." Tsujiai said, sighing. "And I wish you could too; then you would realize that you were making the biggest mistake of your life."

"Tohru belongs with Kyo." Sana told him, aggressively.

Suddenly, Kyo realized what their spat had been about, and was exceedingly grateful for Sana as a friend. She had been the lone person to remember what he had been like in high school and when Kaji had announced his engagement, she was the lone person to stand up for Kyo and his feelings. Even at the risk of abandonment, she had still stood up for him. And now the rest of them were too.

"What?" Kaji asserted. "What are you talking about?"

"It's true!" Tsujiai insisted. He was glad that Sana had the guts to announce it so blatantly. "You just don't remember what they were like before."

"Kaji…" Rei said, walking quietly up to him. Everyone watched her approach. "I-I don't care who you end up with, but first, look at this."

She held out a slip of paper, the size of a regular photo. Everyone else watched her with much confusion. She had just been one of Kyo's biggest supporters up to that time, and here she was, backing the "enemy."

As it turned out, the paper was a photograph. As she handed it to Kaji, Kyo caught a glimpse of the shiny, glossy surface and a flash of color. Kaji took a quick look at the photo and then lowered it to his side, still looking around at the people in front of him.

"So it's a picture! What does this have to do with anything! Why have you all suddenly abandoned me?"

"Hurts, doesn't it?" Sana commented with a snide voice.

Rei looked at Kaji, a deep scowl etched into her face.

"You didn't even look at the photo all that closely." She pouted, crossing her arms over her chest. "Look at it again, Kaji. I think things will be a whole lot more clear when you do."

Kaji shook his head, eyes widened in disbelief. Kyo sympathized with him, even with all of the drama surrounding him. Sudden abandonment and confusing circumstances were his life. Slowly, Kaji raised the photograph back up to his eyelevel and looked at it again.

"What do you see?" Rei asked, gripping onto Tsujiai's arm.

"A big group of people," Kaji intoned, still looking at the photo. "I see me, Sana, Tsuj, and you, Rei." Kaji's frown deepened. "Then there are a whole lot of other people."

He looked up at Kyo, puzzled. "You're in this too." He looked back down at the paper, suddenly more interested. "There's Tohru, Yuki-san, Momiji-kun and Haru-kun from school, as well as that that doctor guy and a whole bunch of people I don't recognize…"

He looked back up at the crowd before him. "I really have no idea what this is a picture of. It could be a photo of school, but some of these people look far too old. When was this taken?"

They all looked back at him, level eyed and sad. He could feel the tenseness in the air and he dropped the photo back to his side, letting his arms fall limp.

"Is there something you guys aren't telling me?" Kaji asked, suspicious.

"No," Rei said after a moment's pause. "There's just something that you refuse to remember."

"That was a picture taken a few days before we forgot everything. Everything about the Sohmas and the terror we saw a few days later. Well, it wasn't really terror, but it was bad…" Tsujiai explained, albeit somewhat unhelpful.

"Wait," Kaji held up his hands. "You said 'we.' You said that 'we forgot everything.' Well then why is it that you all seem to remember and I don't?"

"Because," Sana told him, taking a breath. "You don't want to remember. Somewhere deep down inside of you, you're fighting the urge to remember. You have so much right now that is hinged on the fact that you remain ignorant to the times. Lodged in that brain for yours, somewhere, there's something fighting your attempts to remember. Your body is just doing what is best for you, or so it thinks. But one day, those barriers are going to shut down and you'll remember everything."

"Then you'll know that you're making the greatest mistake of your life." Rei finished solemnly.

Kyo was touched by the fact that they were fighting so hard for him. They had been a tight knit group before he had joined their circle third year, so their support on this matter was shocking to him, in and of itself. Kaji had been their friend for far longer than he had even known of their existence; they had run together in grade school and had braved the bumpy roads of middle school together. All together, the four of them had forged forward through high school, only to have Kyo join them for the last part of high school. And here they were—fighting against one of their own, just for him.

Even Kaji seemed to be trying to help, as he raised his eyes and started to think, to remember. The air in the hallway was still; even the wind stopped and they all waited. For minutes they stood there, eyes fixed on Kaji as he bit his lip in thought. The air tensed as they waited, not a movement from any of the gathered.

Suddenly there was a slight noise and Kaji gasped. Rei gasped right along with him, and for a minute Kyo felt the wild sense of relief. Kaji had remembered! Happiness turned to anguish when he realized that he shouldn't be happy for his friend's pain.

Kaji, however, looked father from pain than anything. Rather, he had turned around and had his hands placed on the wooden door, ear between them, listening to the wood and sounds past the door.

"I really think that there's something going on in there." Kaji intoned, concentrating on the sounds. "I thought I heard something."

"Me too," Rei agreed, stalking forward to join her friend at the door. She placed her ear to the door and listened as well.

Tsujiai stood next to Sana, hands balled into fists and shoulders raised like the hackles on a dog. "Does this mean that you still haven't remembered?" He asked, the tone of anger lacing his voice with no restraint.

"Don't bother," Sana told him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "He's not going to remember if he doesn't want to. We've done all that we can. The rest is left to him."

Tsujiai shrugged her hand off his shoulder and walked forward, angry. "He's my friend; I don't want him to be unhappy with the outcome."

Kyo was unsure who he was talking about in that instance.

**Oo0oO**

So there they stood, separated by a wall of forgotten memories. He felt the over-whelming sense of helplessness as he realized that no matter what he did, he wouldn't be able to do anything about it.

As he thought on it, Kyo wasn't sure what his plan of action had been. He had stalked into this hallway, so sure of himself, but as he looked back on it now, he wasn't sure what he had been planning to do. It really was full of him to think that he could have done anything at all. After all, what could you do about your one true-love's fiancé?

Really, it was swollen headed of him to think that he could have just swept Tohru away with him. He had been a stupid child, too caught up in his emotions to take a step back from the situation and look at the facts. Tohru had a fiancé that she was happy with; why couldn't that have been enough for him? It wasn't like the fiancé was just going to give away Tohru anyway. If you had her, Tohru wasn't something anyone would ever give up.

Unless it was for her better good.

And it was then that Kyo made up his mind.

* * *

_And thus ends this wonderful chapter! Yay! I was gonna have it end differently, but I thought this flowed a little bit better. And as usual, I am my own worst critic and I think that this chapter sucks. But w/e… I'll just have to deal._

_As it turns out, there's going to be a few more chapters after this (say… two, maybe?) I thought that this chapter would have wiped out the facts of the next chapter, but it went on for too long with Kyo's self-pity and all of that._

_Concerning Kaji: Should I have him remember what happened or not? I'm still in a huge debate with myself about what I want to happen with him… hmmmmmm…_

_Oh, and have I ever told you how much I hate Couchy? He sucks! Big time. I'm warning you: if you ever read Street Cat (wonderful manga btw…) beware Couchy. That's not his real name, but as I can't pronounce it, I have rechristened him "Couchy." And he is evil. I want to run him over with a car, throw him off a bridge, burn what's left of him, and then stick that at the lowest point in the county dump. OH YES!!!!!!!!_

_(Really, in real life I'm not that violent. Just a little less. C:)_

_PS: this chapter is totally un-betaed, so if you see any mistakes, pwease tell me._


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